The Watch
by Nesiy Lemon
Summary: 1946, Tom Riddle has a simple life as an employee of the Borgin & Burkes, then one Ginevra Weasley suffers an accident during a mission that was supposed to be simple and ends up in his life, where she is faced with hard decisions regarding his existence, his future and her own feelings.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:** Before you start, beware that I'm not an English native speaker, so you will find mistakes, you will find errors that will probably offend you very much, but I ask you to be patient with me, okay? It's not going to be THAT bad, and I recently found some betas, so it's slowly coming together.

So I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing this and give me a review with your thoughts about it in the end, okay? :)

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 **THE WATCH**

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Ginny took a look behind her, at the people walking in and out of the stores in the Diagon Alley a last time before she entered the archway to Knockturn Alley. They were laughing and talking loudly with each other's, happy and unaware of her presence, busy with their shopping, maybe even working on ignoring that such place even existed.

That was good, she was supposed to be discreet.

She looked up at the blue sky on the other side of the dirty archway and rusty gates, it was the only thing that she liked about the winter, the intensity that blue shade possessed, that simply didn't exist in the other seasons, always helped her feel calm.

November began without snow that year, but the cold she felt on that sunny morning made her feel like she was walking in the snow anyway. The seven years she spent in Scotland, with the cutting winds of the Nordic sea that seemed to never reach her home in the South, gave her the impression that she had some authority over the subject.

 _'I wish it was warmer'_ she thought and let her eyes fall to the dirty and degraded sidewalk she was walking on with a sigh.

Despite the cold weather, Ginny was quite happy, happy and angry. This was her most important mission since entering the Order of the Phoenix during school and she had yet to decide on how exactly it made her feel. It was true that she had played an important part in most of the major battles against Lord Voldemort in the last decade, but this was her first mission alone in the field, as the Order continued to have what she liked to call, the "Ron Weasley" complex. Ginny was an adult but she should not be exposed to the dangers of going out alone on a mission, and if she had to, those should always be small field trips related to nothing actually important.

It could also be the "Harry Potter" complex after all Ginny was his girlfriend and no one wanted to let the Chosen One down.

To say that Ginny hated the position in which she was placed after Voldemort's defeat, was something that did not actually show her true full feelings about the subject, but it was where she was and was around it that she had to work. Therefore, when she finally managed to convince them to let her go on this mission, she could hardly wait for the day to come.

However, Ginny felt horribly observed, she felt that they expected her to prove she could do this while not disappointing anyone; and that was the other side of it.

Ginny could hardly wait for the damn day to be over to change the peculiar belief that she was some useless thing, and everything that made her special was her association with Harry Potter.

She had survived Voldemort when she was only 11 years old, she survived one of the most horrible wizards ever for almost every year she was at school in one way or another, and she managed to do all of that without being perpetually traumatised by what was going on... Ginny sighed again interrupting the thoughts that were beginning to infuriate her. Perhaps the wizards responsible for the Aurors course were not so critical and saw her application as an advantage to strengthening their forces rather than to burden them.

The prospect excited her since ever since the Battle of Hogwarts she had been made to feel more like a liability than an asset.

After she had finished school, she had joined the Holyhead Harpies as a professional Quidditch player, a job she still kept and enjoyed, but she did not saw herself playing the sport forever, she wanted to do more, she wanted to help the community.

Joining the Aurors was the logical step, since the Order had turned out to be nothing more than a huge disappointment for her, being Harry Potter's girlfriend had done a great job at keeping her at bay.

Harry Potter…

Well, for some reason, things with him did not were as good as before, and neither of them could exactly say what happened. The relationship was very tense during the last months, maybe it was related to the fact that he had asked her in marriage some days before her birthday in the summer and she had said no. However, when Ginny thought about it, she could trace the fights and the weeklong silences all the way to the beginning of the year.

They had decided to breakup for some time, to have time to think about everything, and what they wanted to do without any pressure. Now, she had not seen him in over a month, and it was slowly breaking something inside her that hurt from time to time.

Despite the few exciting missions she had, and the time she had to invest in her training with the Harpies, Ginny tried to be a very active member of the Order, whenever they actually asked, or whenever she annoyed everyone into giving her something to do.

The impact of the war on the families was thorough and there was still much to do until they could resume an acceptable level of normality. There were still many people traumatised by memories of seeing their friends and family tortured to madness; people were thrown into poverty after their vaults had been emptied by Death Eaters; involved in heavy lawsuits, guilty of things that they did not remember having done.

It was a long list of consequences for actions led by only one wizard, but she supposed, he would not have anything less. Even dead, he still haunted the world, and sometimes she felt he would never really disappear.

Ginny tried to act in the field where the many Death Eaters, who were still supporting Lord Voldemort's ideologies, worked. They were divided into small groups but managed to terrorise the population on behalf of their former master, however when once captured, they required more of an extended stay in the psychiatric ward of St. Mungo's rather than a cell in Azkaban.

The final battle had been very, very difficult, and if Ginny could go back in time, the first thing she would do was find the bastard and _kill him_ as soon as she saw him. She had lost more friends from Hogwarts then she wished, and her brothers and parents had lost old friends as well, friends who had accompanied them since the beginning of the Order and even before.

Them, the Weasley family had not lost only one child but two for a while. George was the one that had suffered more above everyone else she knew; he had taken more time to recover from his grief and was not the same since Fred had died. He had gradually lost the desire to keep the business that he had started with Fred, and had sold the store before he moved to the USA looking for something. That something turned out to be a woman and a red-haired girl, and George eventually returned to England, willing to become an Auror and help his old friends to protect those in need.

Ginny, in turn, wanted everyone to be safe, to have the life she always wanted.

She wanted to go back to those lazy days at home before things got complicated and the war began. However, that was a silly dream that would never happen, so it was better if she focused on her mission.

Most of the stores on the Knockturn Alley had irregular showcases to also irregular products of weird properties. That alley was the best place in Britain to find products off the market, no one doubt that, and probably the jar of wrinkled heads where she was looking at, would also agree if they could.

She frowned and walked away from the showcase and continued down the street in a slow but steady pace, the heels of her boots chanting in the deserted alley. Ginny knew that this was the normal pace of the street, especially after Voldemort's death, and she was somewhat surprised they were still open for business and with products displayed. The wizards that frequented that street knew exactly what they wanted and where they should go to get it, preferring to use the Floo powder as transportation since it was the best way of keeping their privacy. So, what was the point in all of this display?

Legends said it had not always been that way, but the alley was very old, older than the Diagon Alley, and the fame it had now made it impossible to think that there had been anything good in those buildings at any point of History.

The chimes of a clock in a church nearby announced eleven in the morning and Ginny began to feel impatient, she felt observed by each passing window and was feeling particularly self-conscious, hardly anyone used to walk on that damned alley and because of that, she was sure she was calling a lot of attention. She felt uncomfortable, and the jar of eyes in the window that she pretended to look closely at now, wasn't helping, but Ginny didn't have to wait much longer for the man from her mission to appear.

Down the street, in the opposite direction, the man walked with long strides and was dressed in black, but the style of the clothing was absolutely Muggle, from the point of his shoes to the sunglasses in his nose.

Ginny had to look him up and down several times to make sure that this man was her target, but his appearance explained the Order's difficult time knowing his whereabouts and what he was doing.

Igor Kevedo was living among Muggles and doing Merlin only knew what, and it did not fit as good news at all.

Behind her, the doorbell of the Borgin & Burkes ringed when Kevedo entered and it left Ginny crossing her fingers that he would not find her presence odd.

Ginny stood by the most famous Knockturn Alley's store and leant forward to look at some books displayed in the window, which appeared to not have been cleaned for at least fifty years, and put a pair of extendable ears that the twins had invented at Hogwarts, into good use. She leant against the wall next to the glass, occulting the ear with her cloak, and pulled the hood up before starting to read a crumpled paper to make her look more casual like she was revising a list before entering.

Kevedo entered the store with a straight face, years of practice to conceal what was on his mind allowed him to maintain control over the satisfaction he felt for what was going to happen next. It had been months of hard work, failures that in other times would not be forgiven, and a lot of anxiety linked to life in London and hiding from the still troubled legal system of the Ministry of Magic. Nevertheless, everything was back in track and the plans that were entrusted to him in what seemed decades ago and he had worked hard to achieve this moment; he only needed a small little thing to be ready to put everything in work.

Ginny peered into the store and followed Kevedo to the counter where he leant on, his arms resting on the surface, while the wizard behind the counter greeted him.

"Good morning Mr Kevedo, I see that my son could actually contact you on through that odd machine, I hope it was not too early and you were sleeping" Greeted an old man, which Ginny recognised him as Mr Borgin, the storeowner after he bought it from Burke.

"Good morning Mr Borgin, don't worry about it, after all, I was the one who asked to be notified as soon as my order arrived. How is your wife?" Kevedo smiled as he spoke, clearly in a good mood and cheerful, far away from the idea that was generally conveyed about him, that he was a brainless brute like his appearance had transmitted to the wizards who had crossed his path.

"You're right as always, she's on the back, confirming the rest of the merchandises that arrived this morning with him; we've had some unusual affluence of clients for some days," Borgin said as he lowered himself behind the counter and opened what sounded like a safe, then he placed a box on the counter before he raised and pushed it towards Kevedo.

The box was small and wrapped in brown paper and string, the light colour contrasted gently with the dark wood of the counter. Kevedo slowly undid the wrapping and pushed the paper aside, putting the small box lined with dark green velvet, with no lines that identified an opening, again on the counter and looked at Burkes. "Will you do me the honours?" He asked tapping his finger on the box and looking at the wizard.

Burkes smiled and tapped lightly on the box with his wand, which then opened slowly revealing a silver pocket watch that marked thirteen hours on the display instead of the usual twelve. Kevedo smiled as he raised the watch by the chain to be able to see it at his eye level, letting it turn on itself displaying the intricate decoration of the back.

Ginny held her breathe outside the store, clutching the crumpled paper that she was pretending to read more tightly. She was finally able to see the real object of her mission, and now she only had a few minutes to decide how to steal it from Kevedo. It was amazing how such a small thing like that caused such a disorder between the Aurors and the Order during the weeks that preceded this moment. A small crowd of wizards had spent hours in interrogations and walking dogs outside buildings to find out what Kevedo was looking for and what he wanted to buy at the Borgin & Burkes without managing to find it.

"Mr Kevedo! I thought I heard your voice, how are you? Good as always I hope." Burke's wife laughed, approaching her husband, and putting her hand on his shoulder. "I see you finally got what you wanted, that gave me horrors of work to find! I've never worked with so threatening wizards!

Kevedo laughed. "Now Mrs Borgin, whatever you say, I believe that they had no chance against your charms." He said, making the old witch laugh with pleasure.

"Oh! But what's this?" She asked more to herself then the men, crouching behind the counter and emerging with a frame on her hand. "I didn't know we had a photograph here... Dear, look what I found! It has been years since I've seen this photo!" She said, giving the framed photo to her husband.

Mr Borgin adjusted his reading glasses over his nose and took a good look at the photo. They had been a good few years since he had last seen it as well, Burke still worked with him when he had seen it for the last time.

The photo that Borgin held under his gaze was not dangerous or particularly important, to have to be stored inside the safe, it was just peculiar and curious, a window into the private life of the last great dark wizard of the century, that had worked in the store back in the 1940's. It could probably be worth enough galleons to start a new business if they let the worthless Rita Seeker know of its existence since she had dedicated a monthly column exploring his private life a little after his death.

 _"Meet the T behind the V"_ or something stupid like that.

Kevedo decided to use Borgin's silence to take a small blue notebook from the inside pocket of his coat to take some notes, getting startled when the wizard held out the frame to him. Kevedo accepted it putting the notebook on the counter and regretted it immediately.

Two young wizards were smiling back at him, she looking very uncomfortable, but him, Kevedo recognised him immediately, he had a photograph of him and he even had a few strands of his hair.

Kevedo frowned as he looked at the picture, almost not believing what he was seeing.

"Tom Marvolo Riddle." Announced Borgin saving Kevedo from having to say anything. "In the last year, he worked for the store. I always say that the moment he crossed our door to the street for the last time, was the day he died, after that Lor- You-Know-Who was born." Finished Burkes, choking to correct the name that much of the wizardry world was still afraid to pronounce.

"And who is she?" Asked Kevedo putting his finger in the woman's torso with which Lord Voldemort divided the picture, holding his arm.

"She worked here for about two months before disappearing." He paused to think. "I no longer remember her name." Borgin took off his glasses and closed the stems, placing them on the counter. "When You-Know-Who resigned, we thought he had gone away because of her since the disappearance of the girl and his resignation were two very close events, and at that time he seemed like a different… person. Hard working, educated, not lean to make conflicts, he seemed to have a bright future ahead as well as a good family, but we all know what really happened in the end. They kind of had something going on, she lived with him for some time as well, but who knows what happened?"

The three were silent and Ginny was getting anxious outside the store.

She had managed to decide what to do when Kevedo exited the store and was not very inclined to know all these details about the love life of the wizard that killed her brother.

'Ugh… Come on! Get out there so that we can move on with this!' she thought gritting her teeth, beginning to tear the corners of the paper in her hand as she looked over her shoulder into the store.

Kevedo gave the photo back to Borgin who passed it on to his wife who disappeared again behind the counter when she suddenly gasped. "What?" asked Burkes looking at his wife, who already was working on closing the safe. "You didn't break anything, right?" He asked a little worried.

"Don't be silly dear; I've completely forgotten what made this photo so funny."

Borgin could not hide a grin and Kevedo chose to start taking the amount of money they had agreed to exchange for the watch and another tip for the amazing service they had rendered him. He believed that good work should always be rewarded; he had learned that from the best.

Meanwhile, Ginny felt really sorry for the girl in that picture.

"I must go now Mr Borgin, and I'm truly sorry that I cannot stay and talk..." Kevedo said lifting the watch by the chain and looking at it with a smile, before putting it back in the box and then inside the interior pocket of his coat, turning to leave, saying his last farewells.

Ginny took back the extendible ear that she had put in the window, and prepared herself for Kevedo's exit. She had a knot on her stomach and her breathing started to come fast, the last time she felt like this was the night that Harry had proposed to her, and it was awful.

She looked at both sides of the street to make sure it was empty, and again to see if no one was lurking in the windows of the nearest stores, maybe the old witch in the store across the Borgin & Burkes was still there, but she really did not care right now.

 _'This will be easy!'_ Ginny thought, putting herself in the centre of the showcase, preparing for Kevedo to come out the door.

The door opened with the bell above it singing it's warning and Kevedo didn't even have time to take more than two steps on the sidewalk before Ginny causally went against him as if walking down the street. Kevedo, startled, grabbed Ginny by the shoulders and pushed her against the store's door that was still closing with more force then she had expected.

Kevedo was so distressed that he let out a small cry of horror at the sight of his precious watch, fluctuating like it was in slow motion, between him and the girl and didn't even notice when the box hit him in the neck.

With a quick reflex, Ginny grabbed the watch as it fell, an act that she would come soon to regret when her head hit the hard wood floor of the store and the air was sucked out of her lungs with the strength of the impact. The world seemed to stop for a moment and Ginny stared at the ceiling, blinking slowly, trying not to lose consciousness. Kevedo, fully forgotten, for the time being, was the least of her priorities, all her world was the pain on the back of her head.

Stunned, Ginny set on the floor, putting her legs to her side and faced the front door; she pulled her hood up, trying to both hide her face that was growing red with shame from the clumsy fall and to hide her hair so she would not be identified as a Wesley.

She looked up, ready to face Kevedo, but what she saw paralysed her, a thick layer of untouched snow was spreading everywhere outside and formed a straight angle where it had fallen against the door. She blinked, trying to make sure she was not seeing things and let her eyes fall to the wooden floor, a few centimetres out of her reach were the two sides of the wooden box and the watch, with glass and metal parts scattered around, even the chain had detached itself from the body.

Ginny reached out and picked up the bottom of the box where she was planning to put the confusion of pieces that had become the watch, but stopped when she began to process what the presence of snow on the street meant. Her vision began again to black out on the sides, threatening to leave her unconscious when the blood began to pump faster, and her heart started to beat as fast as if she had just run a marathon.

Kevedo should be by the door and about to attack her but he was not there, instead, it seemed like there was someone behind her, she could hear wood crackling near her. Ginny looked back and her expression became one of pure horror. A few meters from her, on top of a ladder leaning against a bookshelf and frowning at her, was Tom Marvolo Riddle. He was taller and older than he was in the diary that Ginny had poured her life into in her first year at Hogwarts, with more defined features but the same cold blue eyes, he should be in his early twenties and not much older than herself.

Ginny let out a groan and put her hand on the back of her head when a sharp pain forced her to divert her attention from the wizard, she hit the floor again, this time, unconscious.

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 **A/N:** Kudos to my beta ShirleyIAmSirius.


	2. Chapter 2

Tom Riddle sighed and stretched, letting himself slide down the chair until he could not see over the mess of books and papers spread on the desk in front of him. It was almost eight in the morning and once again and he had been unable to sleep, not because he did not want to, but because of the frustration, he felt when he wasn't making any progress with his studies. He knew that made no sense, but he could not find a reason to justify not jumping a few nights of proper sleep during the week to work on his personal projects.

His blue eyes were framed by grey circles, and he let his gaze pass through the spines of the books he had gone through since closing the store the night before: _Forbidden Curses_ ; _Myths and Legends of Tartary: A summary of old lost spells; How to Hunt Elephants or The Lost Art of Controlling Beasts; Werewolves: Theories about the curse_. Tom rolled his eyes and straightened his back. _'Who names these books?'_ He asked himself frowning.

Tom put the paper he was reading - _Potions and Chemistry: A study on Muggle science_ – over his old diary and looked around.

His room was not large and was located in the attic of the building where the Borgin & Burkes was located, following the shape of the walls and the low roofs. A curtain coming down from the ceiling separated his desk, bookcase, a small couch and the bathroom of the area that held his bed and a wardrobe with his clothes. It generally remained open to allow the sunlight to pass through the circular stained glass window, to light the division in blue and gold tones and keep it warm during the day, which generally did not work very well during the winter.

His bed was undone and it seemed to invite him to lie down, curl up under the blankets and sleep until he had recovered all those lost hours of sleep from the past weeks, but it was an offer that Tom would not accept, even with the start of a migraine over his right eyebrow disagreeing with him.

Tom had a store to open.

He got up and with a hand gestured in the direction of the bed with an unspoken spell, it started to make itself, and then he did the same with the clothes he had left neglected on the couch across the desk, making them levitate to find their way into the wardrobe or a place in the bathroom to be washed later.

He waited for the spell to finish tidying his room and looked back at the clock and sighed tiredly, it was time to start the day.

He showered and then watched his reflection in the mirror space he had cleaned off the water's moisture. The dark circles under his eyes were more pronounced than he thought and his hair seemed to be in need of a cut. Massaging the back of his neck with his right hand, he felt the cold of his grandfather's ring against his skin and looked at it thoughtfully, letting himself revive for a few moments the night he had taken it from _them_.

Tom closed his hand several times to help him get rid of unrequested feelings and grabbed the brush to comb his hair that dried it with each passing; he was too tired to think about such things.

It did not take him longer to finish and go to the first floor of the store; it was a residential area that no one used much besides him. The attic stairs opened onto a hallway that allowed access to the three bedrooms on the floor, two reserved for the owners for when they needed to stay in the store to take care of some business and another one for guests, which was rarely used. The last door before the stairwell, which went down to the store gave access to a relatively well-equipped kitchen.

Tom entered the room, immediately went to the window, where an owl impatiently waited to deliver the Daily Prophet. It lightly poked his hand when he put the coins in the small wallet that was tied to its leg, making him know he was late.

Tom put the newspaper under his arm and took the injured spot to his mouth, squeezing his lips over it to reduce the pain, while with the other hand he made a spell to lit a fire in the fireplace and fill the kettle of water to make tea. He put the newspaper on the table and took an apple from the fruit bowl and began to eat, reviewing what he had to do during the day, gazing at nothing in particularly while trying to ignore the pulsating pain of the migraine.

The kettle began to whistle in the fireplace and with another wave of his hand, Tom made the cabinets open and a pot, some herbs and two mugs left its inside to float and settle on the table. After a few minutes, the flames became of an emerald green colour and Caractacus Burke came out of the flames, cleaning the ashes of his clothes.

"Good morning Riddle!" He greeted Tom, barely looking at him and disappearing through the door with the newspaper and one of the cups of tea. Tom simply close his eyes when the wizard slammed the front door and the sound went through the building and especially through the inside of his skull, making his head pulse uncomfortably.

He finished eating and stepped down to the store, making his tea float behind him. When he reached the large fireplace that served as the main entrance of the store, he made some wood float to the inside and lit it on fire, leaving the fireplace ready to welcome the clients.

Then he went to the door and made sure that his appearance was correct using the glass reflection as a mirror, and turned the sign to "Open", also tucking the small sign indicating their need for another employee to make sure it would be visible to the outside.

It was precisely nine o'clock in the morning and the Borgin & Burkes was ready.

Tom sat on a high stool behind the counter, the cup of tea steaming beside him and he opened the logbook that the store used to control the stock, and took a sip of tea. With the effectiveness that only magic could have, orders began arriving at the fireplace, fortunately not a lot that day.

The set of boxes gathered on the rug and Tom made them float to him, making them land on the counter; he began to open each package efficiently, then he methodically recorded each object, and put it aside, so that later he could draft a letter to the buyers and give them notice of the order arrival.

Sometimes he would stop to read a book whose title called his attention and made a cross reading for evaluating the content, but that day nothing of interest had arrived.

He was already in the second mug of tea when he finished writing the letters and putting them in the envelope, ready for Burke to send them over during the lunch hour. With a gesture, the orders and their warning letters were stored on the shelf behind him.

Tom got up and went to the warehouse. On the previous day evening, a few books and samples of potions had arrived and he needed to sort through them and find a place at the store to display them, it was a task that he would rather do manually, to help the day pass faster, since he had been forbidden of reading during the dead work hours.

It was true that his life was, for now, on standby. He did not particularly care for this job, despite being really good at it.

Sometimes he wondered if he shouldn't have accepted one of those jobs he had refused to work in the Ministry of Magic, especially when he had rather particularly difficult clients or one or other old schoolmate that had never liked him in particular came by and didn't spare him a few derogatory comments about is current situation. It was very annoying, but Tom simply used a smile and some cordiality against them, which proved to be the best way of making them angry for his lack of response and kind of embarrassed when he told me to come back soon while helping them carry their purchases to the fireplace.

Tom returned to the store with the box with the things he needed to display on the store and put it on the shelf perpendicular to the front door, then he fetched the ladder and balanced it against the shelf and stepped up to get to work.

He was balancing a few bottles against his chest when the door suddenly opened, the bell almost blowing out of the holder with the speed. Tom dropped everything he was holding to the ground to be able to balance himself and not follow their path, looking startled at the door.

A very red haired woman was lying on the floor facing the ceiling a few feet away from him and looked unconscious, Tom stepped down a few steps before stopping to watch her slowly sit up, putting her hands on the back of her head where she had hit the floor, and cover her redhead with the hood.

She stretched to grab a piece of a wooden box that was spread before her, but she suddenly turned back and looked at him when he started to get down again. Tom frowned at her confused, preparing to ask if she was okay when her face suddenly adopted a look of pure terror as if he was about to transform into a werewolf or something similar and fainted.

That, was a reaction he was not expecting; the last time someone had looked at him like that was the night he had gotten the ring on his hand.

He jumped the last few steps and approached the woman, lowering himself to his knee, searched for some kind of visible damage on her head but found nothing, it seemed she didn't have anything more serious than a concussion.

He looked at the box she had tried to grab, and noticed the broken pocket watch and finally the snow on the street, untouched again after a brief snowing that had erased Burke's footprints when he left the store earlier. Tom didn't know of anyone who could Apparate in the middle of what looked like a jump, given that the act itself required a good deal of concentration so that the wizard wouldn't leave an arm and a leg behind, not to mention that they wouldn't hit the closed door like she seemed to have.

Tom had no idea what had happened, but whatever it was, it had definitely happened.

Looking back at the woman Tom decided it was best to sit her and wake her, so he took her in his arms, and almost dropped her when Burke suddenly appeared at the door.

"What's goin' on?" He asked in a brusque tone looking at the girl in Tom's arms and then at him, closing the door on his back.

"I have no idea." Tom replayed placing her in one of the two armchairs that stood by the fireplace, then he quickly went into the warehouse to fetch something to wake her up and returned.

He lowered himself again, resting a knee on the floor and put the vial under her nose for a moment, covering it again when she started to move away.

Ginny slowly returned to consciousness, her head felt like it was going to explode at any moment and she was very confused. The first thing she saw was a fire burning in a fireplace, but then her eyes focused on the men in front of her and she couldn't help but grab onto the armchair with all the force she had. To her right was a man with a beard and hair that rivalled with Hagrid's but of an orange colour, he had small blue eyes that seemed to want to punch through her chest and he was leaning down resting his hands on his knees.

Ginny straightened her cloak over herself and closed it on her chest with one hand, feeling uncomfortable.

On the other side was Tom Riddle, one knee on the floor, one hand resting on the armrest and the other hand holding the small vial. He was frowning so much that Ginny believed he would get a wrinkle.

The man was the one that spoke first.

"I'm Burke, co-owner of the Borgin & Burges." He said articulating the words slowly and placing a hand on his chest as if she was slow. "This is my employee, Tom Riddle, and I believe he is as curious as me about what just happened to you."

"Hmm…" Ginny was in a complete loss of words and just looked from one wizard to the other.

"I was in the store on the other side of the street and I still don't believe what I saw..."

Ginny looked at them, didn't know what they had seen because she didn't know what she had just done, so to buy some time she chose to lean forward and hide her face in her hands, resting her elbows on her knees, _'I can't believe this is happening'_ she thought in panic. _'This is not happening! I am in a coma, I hit my head with more force than I should and now I am in a coma! This is not worth the stupid watch. I'm so dead…'_

"I think she's going into some kind of shock," Tom said, parting Ginny's hair that had fallen forward to hide her face making her suddenly straight up to get away from his touch.

"What's your name?" Asked Burke, still speaking really slowly.

"Ginevra, my name is Ginevra." She finally said, and decided that it was better to assume she really was in the same space as Tom Riddle, and it was her best interest to be careful and not do anything dumb.

"What happened to you?" Tom asked.

"I... I was attacked..." said Ginny deciding to take a leap of faith while the facts about Voldemort's life invaded her mind. She supposed his precedent, Gellet Grindelwald also had followers around the country after he was arrested, doing the same kind of things that the Death Eaters did. "Grindelwald's men..."

"Grindelwald!?" Exclaimed Burke "There haven't been an attack related to him in..." Borgin filled his cheeks with air and looked at Tom for help. "At least eight months." Tom finished looking up at his boss.

"Publically known" whispered Ginny with a knot on her throat trying to save her lie "I guess I was in the wrong place at the wrong time."

Tom shook his head in confusion and prepared to make the ultimate question that would transform her small lie into a monster, but Burke put a hand on his shoulder. "Here we respect the privacy of our clients." Tom looked at Burke and raised to his feet, putting his hands behind his back.

Ginny began to rise, infinitely thanking the wizard by that policy, but it was not something surprising attending the kind of customers they had, in fact, it was completely expected. Ginny felt dizzy and took a hand to her face when her vision started to go black and did not notice she was starting to fall back to the armchair.

Tom moved forward to hold her, putting a hand on her back and grabbing her forearm. Ginny automatically tensed and looked at him. "Thanks." She said without taking her eyes from his, who held the same colour and shape she remembered, but were framed with deep dark circles. Tom took back the hand that rested on her back and let the other slip from her forearm to her hand, wanting to make sure she was not going to fall.

Suddenly the two received a shock from the contact, Tom took several steps back until his back was against one of the sides of the fireplace and Ginny fell back on the chair, both alternately looked at their hands and to the other with suspicion, Ginny feeling particularly disturbed and with a sense of déjà vu.

"What just happened?" Asked Burke, looking from one to the other, absolutely lost. When no one answered him, he chose to go to the door to pick what was left of the watch, using a spell to make sure that even the small screws that had fallen between the floorboards would safely be inside the box.

Ginny raised from the armchair again motioning to Tom that she did not need help when he stepped forward. "I think it's not a good idea given that…" She did not need to finish the sentence for him to understand, but she did not look at Tom to see what his reaction was. Probably was not going to see anything, as her former best friend, was an expert at keeping all his emotions behind a perfect and impassive mask.

She walked around the chair and stood next to Burke, who handed her the box. "I believe that the pieces are all inside." When Ginny took the box, Borgin took the opportunity to hold her hand and stare at her in silence, probably enjoying the proximity. By the fireplace, Tom rolled his eyes. "Burke!" He said in an authoritative tone, making the other wizard look at him surprised and drop Ginny's hand, that was looking at Burke like she was about to start sending spells in all directions.

Burke coughed embarrassed and chose to open the door for her.

Ginny wasted no time to make her exit, turned to Burke and thanked the kindness with which she had been treated and moved forward, the toes of her boots a few inches away from the snow, now full of footprints that marked Burke's entrance. She looked at the door to her left and touched the glass where she could read the ad that asked for an employee, and then looked at Tom.

She could not find anything to say, she did not thank him, smile or express any emotion in those seconds they shared a gaze. Ginny opened and closed her hand to ward off the impression his touch had left on her skin and that insisted on not going away, and stepped forward.

Burke smiled at Tom after having accompanied her more or less visible rear under her cloak disappear and also left, crossing the street to whatever the business he was attending in the store across the street.

Tom collapsed down in the chair where Ginny had been sitting and rubbed the bridge of his nose to try to somehow relieve the migraine that had increased in the last half-hour. In front of him, the flames in the fireplace adopted an emerald green colour and Tom rose to his feet. "Welcome to the Borgin & Burkes, how may I help you?" He said with a brief smile, opening and closing his hand behind his back, which still was bothering him.

He decided he was going to take the weekend off and sleep until Monday. He clearly needed it.

* * *

Ginny walked the same path she had done almost an hour ago, noticing a couple of stores with bright colours, which indicated they had been opened recently. Several footprints marked the snow, and there were orange lights coming to the outside from all the stores she passed by. She looked up, but the sky was no longer blue, but a dark grey that promised more snow during the day.

Her head continued to hurt, her right hand was still sensitive with the shockwave she shared with Tom, and her emotional system was almost broken. She picked up some speed, trying to put as much distance as possible between her and the damn store, struggling not to run and call unnecessary attention to herself.

She felt lost and without any idea about what to do next.

The Diagon Alley, contrary to what had been when she had been there that morning, was now almost empty, probably because of the bad weather that was coming.

Ginny would have preferred the crowd, where she could lose herself among the other wizards, touch them while passing them by and be sure they were real and that she was not dreaming this situation up. The stores on that street were also not much different than she remembered, and she felt a little consoled by the familiarity of them.

She abruptly stopped and looked around, taking a deep breath several times and let her gaze fall back to the hand that Tom had touched.

Deciding that first it was best to find a place to stay, and since she was not in imminent danger, she opted for the obvious place. Not wanting to waste any more time she Apparated to the Leaky Cauldron and went inside the pub, which was almost empty. Ginny went to the reception and recognised a young Tom, with hair and a moustache, with more muscles than the one on her time, which made sense since she should be at least 50 years in the past.

She asked for a room for the weekend, and wrote her first name and shortened the second with a small comma at the end when he gave her the book.

The pub was the same; it probably was that way since 1500 when Dodderidge Daisy had built it, except for the bathrooms and indoor plumbing. Blessed the architect who decided that those were essential things any construction should have.

The room overlooked the Muggle street, that was the same as she remembered, if she ignored the Muggles were dressing, making them look a lot more formal than she was used to seeing, and all the cranes above the buildings.

Ginny plopped down on the bed and put her arm over her eyes, tired of the things that looked the same but were not the same, the pain in the back of her head that was radiating to the front and making her feel sick, and the feeling on her hand.

Ginny looked at her hand and watched it carefully. There seemed to be no sign that something had happened, there was no mark or wound, just a dormant feeling and she could not help but wonder if he felt the same.

 _'How old is he exactly?'_ she asked herself, feeling weird with the question, all of it had been too real to discard it as a side effect of her fall.

Deep inside, she still believed all of this was a dream and Kevedo was now kicking her in the head for daring to try to steal him, but it was Tom Riddle that had been with her in the store, and Tom Riddle had been dead for two years now. His body buried next to his father's at Little Hangleton in some kind of final act of humiliation.

The last time she had seen him, Tom was 15 or 16, but now he seemed to be not much older than herself, maybe 20 or 21 years. He was taller, his face had become more defined and Ginny had to agree that the expression "he had good looks" that Harry had used when sharing the biography of his arch-enemy with her, was kind of right.

She already knew that, of course, but his looks had become more refined after losing his teenage features.

"Damn… what now?"

Ginny could no longer lie down and started pacing through the room, pouring the contents of her pockets in the desk, and rearranged things around to make it feel more like it belonged to her, while her thoughts remained at the Borgin & Burkes.

If she was not mistaken about his age, it meant that Tom should not take much longer to disappear during those ten years Harry told her about and return to ask for the position of Dark Arts professor.

Ginny remembered her own words that morning, how she would kill him if she had the chance.

Apparently, the Universe had heard her and provided the opportunity, and now it was up to Ginny to decide what to do with it.

Now things were different, it was not really Lord Voldemort that had held her hand, or the same wizard who was responsible for her brother's death, or caused all that chaos in the future, that wizard would take at least 10 years to be fully himself.

She knew that because of the diary.

Ginny had never killed anyone, and was definitely not ready to kill Tom Riddle, at that point, he already had some practice at murdering other wizards, so even if she decided to try her luck, the odds of killing him before he killed her, were very high.

She let her head rest on the bed again and covered her eyes with her arm, there was a more important question than what to do with Tom Marvolo Riddle, and that question was "How the hell did I get to the past!?" Ginny asked aloud.

Sitting up and with a gesture of her wand, she called the watch's box to her. No one travels back in time without some kind of help, it was impossible, it was a kind of magic that could only be used trough an object, which left the pocket watch as the only explanation for what happened. She touched the display with the tip of her wand and muttered the spell that should fix it, but nothing happened, Ginny tried again and got the same result. The problem could not be the spell, she had used it repeatedly, that was one of the basic spells that all the wizards controlled on the second day of classes.

Ginny carefully took the watch from the box. The glass was broken and the hands had fallen, the display seemed to be made of dragon's bone and marked thirteen hours in Roman numerals, and even the numbers were not represented usually since the watchmaker opted for writing 4 with four uppercase IIII. The back was decorated with a floral pattern and a stylish "S". Ginny immediately linked it to Salazar Slytherin, but as Slytherin was a Dark Ages wizard and pocket watches were something more recent in History, she dropped the idea.

Perhaps it belonged to a Slytherin, but not the one who built the school, or perhaps it belonged to another wizard whose name started with "S", she had no way of knowing. Ginny needed more time to think, and above that, she needed to rest and recover from the abrupt meeting with the ground she had in the morning.

For her physical health, but above all, mental health, so she decided to take the rest of the day to recover and get her thoughts in order.

The next morning was not as gentle as the day before, and Ginny had to sit in the chair by the desk, with her head between her legs to be able to stop the panic attack she had when she woke up and remembered that she was not in 2000, but as Tom, the innkeeper, had told her the day before, in 1946.

She was in 1946, she had fallen in the store where Lord Voldemort worked and did not know how to get back to her own time, where probably a very angry Kevedo was tapping his foot waiting for her. Without quite knowing how to approach the situation, Ginny decided that the wisest course of action was to curse the Order's genius that had decided to send one single person to steal one of the alleged, more powerful followers of Lord Voldemort.

 _'Who could those creatures be?'_ She asked herself.

Ginny was starting to feel lucky for not being dead, this had been the worst plan ever for a mission, and perhaps a beating session would be more appropriate than a curse for those guys, that if she could find her way home.

Ginny measured her options; she could not get in touch with her family at The Borrow and ask for help, it probably would cause major disturbances in the future, despite knowing she would be very well welcomed. She was too old to go back to Hogwarts, and without any documents, she probably could not apply for a job, and that was something important since she would need to work in order to pay for the room, eat and find someone to repair the watch.

Where would she even find someone to help her with it? It had to be someone she trusted, someone who would not disappear with it since it obviously was a very powerful object.

Dumbledore would be the ideal person to help, but he was dead.

Ginny almost fell down the stairs on her way to the pub and get something to eat when she remembered that Dumbledore was dead in the future, but now he was likely to be re-decorating the office of the Principal at Hogwarts, or at least he would still be a professor, she was not sure, she just knew he was alive.

It was almost midnight and Ginny was still working on the draft of the letter she was planning to send to professor Dumbledore. There were too many crumpled paper balls around her then she was proud to admit too, and she wasn't even close to briefly explain what was happening and what she needed. However, she had managed to reduce the number of pages from twelve to just four and was almost satisfied with the consistency of what she wrote.

Ginny stretched and decided to end the day, her head still ached around the spot she had hit on the floor. Going to bed and pulling the blanket over her head and looking at her hand, that at least no longer bothered her, she closed her eyes falling asleep, her last thoughts to Tom Riddle and what he was doing at that moment.

Tom Riddle at that moment was asleep. Not since the previous day because the store also opened on Saturday's mornings, but definitely slept all night and almost failed to open the store on time, he also had an unplanned nap in his desk before dinner, while trying to finish the paper from last day. He had almost fallen asleep at the kitchen table after dinner, listening to the radio and reading the misadventures of Dr Frankenstein. A fantasy novel for Muggles, a historical novel about the monstrosity created by the wizard that led to the creation of tough laws on the use of Alchemy and Muggle science, which still raised debates about it.

His last thought as he lay down on his bed were not to Ginny, despite having analysed his hand carefully for a moment, it was about the efficiency of the nights he spent awake studying and their impact on his life. They were very productive of course, but he was not interested in dying from exhaustion, after all, he was still kind of mortal, with only two Horcruxes.

Nevertheless, Ginny was present in his dreams that night, and he was quite disturbed about it when he drank his tea the next morning, holding the Daily Prophet without reading it.

Tom dreamed he was back in the Chamber of Secrets, again with 16 years; he was walking down the hall flanked by statues of snakes and stopped in the centre of the large Chamber at the foot of the statue of his ancestor, who watched impassively from above. Tom was not sure what he was doing there, he was not supposed to be there and he kind of had that period closed on his diary, rarely thinking about it this day.

His attention was caught by the sound of footsteps in the corridor and for some reason, he could not help but smile, he could not avoid doing it since he was not in control of his body.

A girl was walking down the hall, her small steps echoing all around the Chamber, she should not be more than 11 years old; a student of the first year and her red hair was pulled back in a ponytail.

His attention was completely focused on her, he couldn't hear what she was saying, or what he was answering back and was taken by surprise when his body leant down and hugged her tightly to him. He put one knee on the floor and felt her face buried in the crook of his neck, her hands clinging to his shirt, her breath on his skin. He was feeling alive, as he had not for decades...

The details were beginning to disappear as Tom absently looked at the newspaper on his hands. His dream did not make any sense, especially the part where the childish version of the woman with whom he had been for thirty minutes last Friday's morning, appeared in the Chamber.

He definitively had to sleep every night, he decided, at least four hours, obviously the lack of rest was doing him some harm.

* * *

It was after lunchtime when Ginny went downstairs to the pub's dining area to have some food. She had managed to finish the draft of Dumbledore's letter and needed to take a break before going on re-read it again and make sure everything was in it.

She had summarily described everything that seemed relevant. Who she was, the war, the mission and the watch (she even added a small illustration of it), it seemed perfect, but Ginny had no basis of comparison to be sure; so she ate her lunch slowly, savouring each ingredient as if it were the first time she had them.

There were only two decisions left to make, and they were about how to survive on daily bases and what to do about Lord Voldemort. She decided that combining both was the best scenario for her situation.

The Borgin & Burkes needed a new employee, and it seemed to have a friendly policy towards shady people, which could possibly not apply to employees of course, but Burke looked like one of those men who could hire her for her looks alone and not for who she was and what she had done in the past, so it was definitely worth to take a shot there.

She was sure she was not going to have problems getting the job.

That would take care or her money needs but it would also let her keep her enemy close. Ginny remembered how Tom could be nice and polite if he wanted, which he seemed to be trying to be now, because if he wasn't he would no longer be working at the Borgin & Burkes. In addition, she had an idea that Harry had mentioned that Tom was particularly good in the job he had on that store, so it should be somewhat easy to see him every day without fear of being killed.

Ginny wasn't sure it would be wise to put her future at risk by working with him and possibly end his life, she couldn't even start to imagine the impact it could have.

She was almost certain that the alternative would be to be stuck at some house far away from London waiting to know how to go back to the future from someone in the Ministry. That did not seem acceptable, and the possibility of having a small chance to decide over Tom's life was what led her to decide not to mention Tom Riddle as the source of the war to Dumbledore.

 _'Maybe it was better to not even mention the war...'_ she thought since Dumbledore probably would want to know who they would be at war with. Ginny took a deep breath feeling frustrated. After all, the draft was not finished as she thought it was, Ginny needed more time to think about what to write, she needed to know exactly what she wanted to do.

* * *

Tom woke feeling refreshed that Monday's morning, the dark circles were almost gone, his desk was clean and ready for a week of work he expected to be very productive, especially now that he had decided to get some sleep every night.

He sat at the counter holding a mug of tea with both of his hands, enjoying the warmth of the water that made it throw the ceramic, and that pleasantly contrasted against that particularly cold morning.

Tom had to light up several extra candles to be able to see the space around the store since the sky was heavy with dark clouds, which promised the snowfall of the year. It was the perfect time to study and he was there, waiting for the orders to arrive, bored.

Sometimes life was not fair, he thought, allowing himself to daydream about the little book he had found the day before, stuck behind his bookshelf that he had somehow missed and was full of small illustrations of wizards flying.

His attention diverged to the ceiling when someone upstairs exited the fireplace and made one of the chairs fall to the ground. Tom looked at the clock on the wall and then to the stairs when Burke started to stumble down the stairwell. It was too early for his boss to be there on a Monday, but when the wizard almost tripped and fell on the last few steps, Tom was sure that Burke probably did not even know it was Monday.

Burke went through Tom and made a sort of bark that was equivalent to a good day and took Tom's mug from his hands. When he reached the fireplace, he fell back on one of the armchairs and stretched his legs, crossing them at the ankles. A few moments later the fire crackled and became emerald green and a jumble of boxes of various sizes struck him in the legs, causing another guttural sound from the man.

Tom, behind his desk, wrinkling his nose to the smell of cheap alcohol that plagued the store, took the wand from an inside pocket of his jacket and called the orders of the day with a spell to his side with a resigned look on his face, like of someone who didn't watch that show for the first time.

The morning passed slowly and Tom took his time to record the new orders.

Outside begun to snow, inside, Burke had fallen asleep in front of the fireplace and was softly snoring, Tom decided to drown out the unpleasant sound by turning on the radio, and an excerpt from the opera Tristan and Isolde by Richard Wagner (the only Muggle composer whose music he tolerated), spread around the store.

It was with some surprise that he saw Ginny enter the store, after all, she did not look like she would ever be close to the store ever again when she had left.

She was wearing the same clothes from last week and the hood pulled over her head to protect her from the snowfall, her loose red hair fell down as she lowered the hood, just like when she was young.

Tom frowned and stopped that line of thought there, because he had never seen her before Friday and that dream was just something that his exhausted mind had made up, from where were this thought coming?

Burke woke startled with the sound of the bell and looked around the back of his armchair, and stood up noticing it was a client. His smile widened when he recognised Ginny and extended his hand, hesitating a moment when he did not remember her name for a moment, but he gave her a warm welcome anyway and told her to sit on the armchair opposed to his.

"How can I help you, Miss Ginevra?" He asked when they were finally comfortable. "You didn't forget anything on our floor did you?"

"No Mr Borgin, fortunately not, what brings me here is a matter of another nature." Said Ginny uncomfortable and looked down sheepishly, using her favourite trick to influence Percy to do what she wanted back in the days.

"Oh really?"

"Unfortunately, I will not be able to go home for a while, and I find myself suddenly without access to my assets..." Ginny continued keeping her eyes fixed on the floor. "I remembered having seen the sign announcing that you needed someone and decided to come and...

Burke looked at her, not to her chest where he had been looking since she passed through the door, but in fact to her. Assessing her words and the risk inherent in her application. "Riddle" Called Burke looking at the counter and signalling him to approach. "What do you think?"

"Without any kind of information about what she previously did its har..." Burke raised his hand silencing him. "No Riddle, what I want to know is if you think she will bring more customers to the store..." Burke raised his eyebrows almost to his scalp, emphasising the word "customers". Tom frowned at his boss and adopted a neutral expression, thanking himself for the wise decision of getting all those extra hours of sleep during the weekend and the benefit they had brought to his patience's levels.

Ginny looked from Burke to Tom with a scared expression, but quickly adopted a neutral expression as well, when she finally realised why Borgin had spent all that money to buy his partner's side of the business. Burke was an idiot. A perverted idiot that would hire her just to have her walk around the store for his own pleasure.

Just like she had guessed.

Borgin turned his attention to Ginny and took her hand. "You are hired, Ginevra." Ignoring the disgust that Burke's hand was causing her, Ginny smiled and tried to look grateful for the opportunity. "When can I start?"

"This afternoon of course!" Borgin affirmed while standing and pulling her with him. "Let me show you around the store!"

The visit was quite time-consuming, Burke decided to describe in great detail some of the most valuable objects they had and the amount of protections put in the cabinets and shelving to protect them. Tom followed them, hands behind his back, helping Burke with some details whenever he looked back at him in panic.

"If you don't have access to your belongings and money, where are you staying Ginevra?" Asked Burke when they finished the visit and approached the counter.

"In the Leaky Cauldron." Said Ginny. "Fortunately, I have enough until the end of the month."

"The Leaky Cauldron?" Burke gave a huge laugh. "Borgin and I like to give accommodations to our employees. Tom, as a permanent employee to the store, is taking up the attic; I would like you to stay in the guest room, while you are with us."

Ginny took a deep breath, she had not foreseen this option since she didn't mind living in the pub.

She had money all right, but not to the end of the month as she had said, and she was depending on Tom to open a small exception for her to stay the last week without paying until she would get her paycheck from the store. "I will think about your offer Mr Burke, thank you for your consideration," Ginny said with a smile, and finally managing to take her hand from Burke's grasp and move away a few steps from the wizard. "Can I use your fireplace; it really is too cold to walk outside?"

"Yes of course!" Burke put his hand on her back and only took it off when it was necessary to hold the pot with the Floo powder. "I can't promise that I will be here to welcome you, but certainly, your new co-worker will be here after lunch."

"Thank you again, Mr. Burke." She smiled at the wizard who she would prefer to punch. "Mr Riddle." She said to Tom, who merely nod and sit on the stool behind him.

Ginny was having trouble swallowing her food back at the Leaking Cauldron, the offer of a room at the Borgin & Burkes stuck in her throat. The proposal was not tempting, especially when there was a good chance of her being murdered by Lord Voldemort during the working hours, and she didn't want to increase that risk through the night, particularly with the prospect of Burke entering her bedroom in the middle of any given night on top of that.

"Tom!" Ginny waved to call the other wizard.

"Do you need anything else?" He asked with a smile. "Another butterbeer?"

"Oh no, it's okay. I was wondering if I could stay here a few nights and pay them at the end of the month... I can..."

"No! That's out of question, policy of the house since 1747." Ginny opened her mouth to try to convince Tom, but he gave her no chance. "It was decided when the third floor burned down because of a client who didn't keep his word and didn't want to leave the room."

"But…"

"It's out of question."

Tom and Ginny looked at each other in silence for a moment.

"It's a firewhisky then." Ginny finally said.

Completely in a bad mood, Ginny went upstairs to her room. She had no choice but to accept the offer.

She had nothing to pack, and she did not dare to leave the watch alone in the room for even the smallest amount of time. Looking around, already thinking how she would miss that bed, the desk where she had written all those drafts and the trash can where she burned all the papers to eradicate the evidence of her story.

With the prospects of living at the Borgin & Burges, she would miss the small room as much as she missed her bedroom at The Borrow.

Closing the door behind her and holding her head up in a gesture of defiance to the uncertain future, that the decision of moving to a room under the same roof where Lord Voldemort lived and occasionally Burke as well, brought her.

Leaving a coin in a small bowl next to the pot with the Floo powder, Ginny took a handful of it and threw it into the fire. She had no reason to save the money she had with her now, the short time she expected to live, would be absent of expenses, except in food and perhaps her funeral arrangements.

"Borgin & Burkes!" She said in a light tone as she entered the green flames.

Tom was sitting in one of the armchairs in front of the fireplace when Ginny came out of the flames and tried to clean her clothes from the ashes. "Just in time to open the door, Miss… hmm… I don't think I understood your last name." He said, getting up and heading for the door to turn the small sign to 'Open' and unlock the door.

"You can call me Ginevra, or Ginny if you prefer." Ginny followed him to the door and then back to the armchair, suddenly feeling very young and sat down. "We are more or less the same age are we not? It would be a bit formal to us to go by our last names... Tom? Right?"

Tom just smiled at her, that same smile that she remembered seeing him do when he pulled her into the diary and showed her something.

Ginny could barely control the urge to escape that feeling and kept her sitting on the edge of the chair, but she knew there was no reason for it, at least for now. Tom did not know who she was, he had no idea who he would be, what he would do and the chaos that he would bring into the world.

He was just a wizard around her age, with a relatively boring work, which had already killed several people, true, but he had no reason to kill her unless she did something really stupid like being honest.

Ginny forced herself to stir straight on the armchair and took off her cloak, letting it fall behind her back, crossed her legs and rested an elbow on her knee and her face on her hand, focusing all her attention on Tom, and applied the social skills she had learned in those potions lessons with Snape and the Slytherins.

"Right... Ginevra." His choice to use her full name was not a surprise, Ginny knew that he didn't use it as a matter of politeness but because he didn't like the abbreviation 'Ginny', and he only began to treat her so when the possessions started, and not always. "Mr Burke had some businesses to attend and left to my responsibility to find you some tasks. Our need for an employee was directed more at someone to take international business, but Mr Borgin made it clear that he preferred that you would stay here, a kind of assistant to help me with my work."

 _'Sure... assistant.'_ Ginny thought, tightening her lips.

"I admit I haven't had time to decide what tasks to assign you since most days are quite calm." Tom rose from the armchair. "So, you have visited the main part of the store, it seems appropriate to visit the warehouse now... let's see if I can find some kind of inspiration."

Ginny had not paid much attention during the visit to the store; she had felt quite distracted by Burke's hand since it had found the space between her cloak and sweater, and no matter how much she tried to step back from his hold, he would follow her.

She had focused on counting to ten so that she wouldn't hex him.

The visit to the store's warehouse did not take a lot of time since Tom did not have the need to impress her as Burke seemed to have.

Ginny rested against the counter when the visit was over and got ready to the big question Tom was about to do "Have you decided about whether or not to accept the guest room?"

"No, I haven't decided about Mr Burke's offer, I need to carefully review my finances first" Ginny smiled at Tom. "Well, let's go upstairs anyway." Tom continued with a brief nod of understanding. "Mr Burke asked me to show you where you would live if you accept the offer."

Tom climbed the stairs ahead of Ginny, entering the kitchen. There was not much to see, the kitchen was small relatively to The Burrow and the same for the kitchen in Sirius' house. The room that Tom has indicated as hers was not particularly impressive, was modestly decorated in grey tones, the double bed under the window overlooking the backyard and what should be the rear of a muggle house had nothing to call home about.

It also had a desk and a wardrobe that would be empty for a while, until Ginny bought some suitable clothes to the period in which she now lived. She saw many skirts in her future, she thought bitterly, preferring the collection of trousers and jeans she had left at home.

The afternoon started without any accident, Tom had provided a second stool for Ginny to be able to sit behind the counter with him and asked her to begin indexing the logbook that he had ended that morning.

It didn't take long for the first customer to appear, a witch who tried to sell them a doll possessed by a particularly evil spirit that Tom refused to buy, indicating a store a few doors down specialises in that kind of cursed objects.

She had been distracted seeing him interact with the witch, cordial, serious, kind of worried to have to hold the creepy doll after finding what was lurking beneath the porcelain.

Tom seemed so normal.

But in the middle of the afternoon Ginny felt particularly exhausted and on the verge of a nervous breakdown and Tom dismissed her, she didn't even ask way in order to not waste the opportunity to get away from him.

At some point, she started to have flashbacks of her first year at Hogwarts, and she almost runs to the fireplace.

* * *

Later, Tom was almost letting his volume of Frankenstein touch the empty plate that had held his dinner. His new partner had spent a quite uncomfortable afternoon at his side, her body tense as if she was preparing to run and with something very stressful on her mind.

They had not talked much, he himself did not know very well what to do with an assistant when the amount of work that the store had was perfectly possible to manage alone. On the other side, after she almost started crying when he asked if she was well, he decided it was unwise to make any kind of small talk, and deciding to be proactive and avoid any contact more than necessary and send her home earlier.

He did not know what had happened, but did not bother himself with it, her problems were hers and he did not care.


	3. Chapter 3

Ginny plopped down on her bed at the Leaky Calderon, squeezing her face tightly against the pillow and began to cry.

She had accepted Tom's suggestion for her to leave early with a lot of relief.

Ginny had probably shown more about how she felt during that afternoon than she thought, and Tom probably had found her behaviour very odd and unprofessional or something along those lines.

She knew he probably did not think anything about it besides that; and at that moment, she thanked the tradition that half of Tom's family had adopted to maintain their blood purity, and that was responsible for the psychopathic disaster with who she shared those hours during the afternoon.

There was nothing she could do about what had happened but let her tears dry out; she would rather cry all she had to cry now than spend another day like this.

She did not understand how it was possible to feel this way; it had been years since everything at happened and she had everything saved behind strong walls in her mind. Ginny had not let a tear fall after the day it all happened. She was not willing to let anyone that Voldemort had broken her in any way.

Turning up, Ginny faced the bed's canopy, the fabric was ornamented with a complicated embroidered illustrating a forest and she could see some animals walking among the trees and low shrubs, certainly, something made to help even the most energetic wizards fall asleep.

It seemed that her first year of school had passed centuries ago and not just ten years ago. She still remembered the surprise she had when she found the soft black notebook among the second-hand books her parents had bought, and the satisfaction she felt for receiving a gift.

That afternoon, she had put the notebook on her bed, away from the heavy books reserved for the first years, and began to organize her trunk, putting the uniforms to one side, books to another, some normal clothes to wear at the weekends and finally the feathers and new ink bottles on top of everything.

When all was properly arranged to her liking she sat on the bed and flipped through the notebook, the pages were yellowed but empty. She did not mind it was old, after all, almost everything she owned was second-handed, and she probably will not like it as much if it was brand new.

Deciding to take advantage of the good weather, Ginny went down the several flights of stairs that separated her room from the kitchen and took the muggle pen her father liked to use when working in the yard on his projects, with her. She picked up the broom that was just outside the door and flew to the roof, where she sat in her favourite spot, and opened the notebook on the first page. Under the strong sunlight, it seemed to have something written on the first page and Ginny frowned and pulled the notebook closer to her face, changing its position to make sure that she was reading right.

'T. M. Riddle' was written on it, and Ginny was immediately worried that instead of a gift, the book had accidentally fallen among her things and was someone else property. Deciding to ignore her fears, she took the pen cap and try to decide what to write first.

After that, the year had passed like a flash and she found herself holding Harry's hand flying away from the Chamber and a huge snake dead bellow her feet.

Now that she had stopped crying, she was feeling kind of empty inside, it was not too late to expose the whole truth to Dumbledore and ask him, no, demand a house in the middle of nowhere without contact with the outside world, until she was able to get back to her own time.

"Lord Voldemort." She said aloud, despite having overcome the fear of saying his name after she was 11 years old, abide by the unspoken rule of not saying it out loud, in this moment, it felt strange, it also felt weird to associate it with the man at the store.

Crossing what she knew about her Tom, the one from the notebook, the little she had absorbed during the day and what Harry had told her, Ginny decided that at that time, she was dealing with Tom Riddle, not Lord Voldemort.

Although he already was a powerful wizard, already having a considerable homicide list for someone so young, he was not quite yet, the Lord Voldemort she knew. He had not emanated that thing that distinguished him as such, that aura of dark power that he spread around him.

Maybe she felt like this his soul has not been so broken has it was in the future, and that made him more human.

Taking a deep breath Ginny sat on the bed, her hands behind her back holding her weight, and her legs straight in front of her.

Her head was starting to hurt and she felt like she urgently needed a bath, but she couldn't find the courage to wear the same clothes she was wearing since Friday, well... since the dinner the day before that, if she wanted, to be honest.

Taking her small purse from a pocket inside her cloak, Ginny got through her money, putting aside the one she needed to eat and ensure the room until Monday morning, and was pleasantly surprised with the amount that was left for her to go buy some clothes.

Ginny rolled her eyes when she realised she had found the only good thing about living in 1946: Inflation.

She could stay a week and a half extra at the Leaky Cauldron with the money she allocated to clothing after all, those were precious days away from Tom and Burke, but the need to buy new underwear was screaming at her and she could not delay it for another day. Ginny did not want to have to wash her current underwear by hand again.

She looked at herself in the full-length mirror that was in the corner of the room, which confirmed the horrible look she was supposed to have after spending so much time crying, and tried to comb her hair with her fingers, failing miserably and making a mental note to buy a brush as well.

Tightly her cloak against her body as she entered the Diagon Alley, she immediately went to Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions, but when she reached the door, the space was occupied by a broom repair shop. _'Now what?'_ She asked herself.

A witch with an ugly mustard yellow hat, which combined with the rest of her flashy clothes was passing behind her with her arms full of bags was the solution, and Ginny took the opportunity to ask her where she could buy some second-hand clothes and was immediately sent to a store a few doors up.

The inside of that store was warm, welcoming and had some witches looking at the clothes. The part of the store closer to the door was reserved to the new, in fashion, clothes, and Ginny watched the expensive articles carefully folded on the shelves and arranged over the mannequins, that dressed in the most elegant pieces of their collection. She decided that she would buy her shoes and underwear in that area, after all, who would wear second-hand underwear?

Since she could not buy anything from there besides that, she quickly went to the back, where the second-hand clothes were, clearly more affordable, and that would allow her to buy a larger quantity of articles. She always preferred quality to quantity, but she had never been in a position of having only the clothes she had on her body, and because of that, quality was, therefore, a luxury.

Ginny began to take some hangers out of their brackets, noting the long skirts. In another place and time, she would have loved to drag Hermione and try all the extravagant pieces she found, but now she had no time for it and she had not seen enough women during the weekend to realise what was exactly fashionable.

She pulled a set of hangers aside and found a blue dress whose style she recognised because she had seen it a few weeks ago, in one of the Muggle movies that her father forced the family to see from time to time.

She would have to thank Harry for giving that weird machine to her father when she eventually returned home.

Eventually.

Ginny could not remember the name of the movie, or much of it in general because as always, she had taken advantage of the two hours that her father forced her to be on the couch, for a nap, at least that is what she did when Harry or Hermione wasn't elbowing her ribs to keep her awake.

She recalled that all actors dressed similarly, to what she saw around her, so she decided to follow that dress style and asked for help to one of the assistants, and embraced the fact of having to dedicate a few hours to being futile at a time when style and good looks should not be a priority... but wearing pants would be weird, and she didn't want to be that weird person in pants.

The employee of the store, when she realised that Ginny was going to buy a complete wardrobe, was more than excited for both of them, and pushed Ginny into the dressing room with a ridiculous amount of clothes in her arms. When Ginny was finally released, the store was already closed for nearly an hour, her arms were full of bags, and it was with some difficulty that she walked down the Diagon Alley.

She dumped the bags on the bed, spreading the new clothes on the cover and bewitched them to find a place in the wardrobe, passing between the clothes that began to fold and flying around, Ginny head to a well-disserved bath.

The water was almost boiling when she sat down in the tub, and the bath salts that she was given in the shop spread a pleasant aroma in the small room.

Ginny looked at the hand that Tom had touched; the tingling sensation had long be gone.

Tomorrow she had to be in the store early, and seven hours of work in his company awaited her, seven very long hours, but she was almost prepared for them.

She had survived part of the afternoon sitting next to him, survived... she was not sure how long, but she had survived the shopping and being dressed like a doll, do there was that.

Ginny was sure she would be able to do anything she wanted the next day.

From the comfort of the bath, Ginny felt exhausted by the experience and decided never to go shopping in her life again, she also decided to drink some hot chocolate at the end of her dinner because she had a vague idea of the film she had seen to be about chocolates.

Wrapped in a towel, Ginny opened the wardrobe and looked satisfied at her tidy and organised clothes inside. After dressing herself, she looked in the mirror, turning around to see her back, appreciating her form on the new dark blue dress that left her shoulders bare and the red high heels, with a frown. She did not recognise herself; it could not be more different from the way she usually dressed.

After years of running around the house with her brothers, summers spent playing Quidditch, and the war... there was no time for dresses, they were not practical and overall, she found them quite cumbersome and boring. She would rather return to her collection of jeans and leave the dress to the actress on that movie, with her short hair and elegant movements it seems to fit her a lot better.

She rubbed her arms and pulled her hair forward over her right shoulder, tomorrow she would have to pin it up somehow, no one seemed to use their hair loose as she liked.

Her dinner went well, and in the end, she took the small cup of hot chocolate with her to the room and put on a nightgown that reached her feet, as was fashionable. She was sure she was going to wake up with it wrapped around her waist, she thought as she sipped her hot chocolate sitting cross-legged on the bed. She always had woken wrapped on those things, and therefore preferred to sleep in the comfort of the old clothes that Charlie had left at home, Ginny would cut her hair short to have the baggy pants and worn t-shirt, three numbers above her size, at that moment.

* * *

It was with a blue blouse, tight high waist skirt that fell below her knees, red heels and a black shawl that Ginny left to the Borgin & Burkes in the morning, precisely at nine, and glanced around trying to find Tom.

"You should move from the front of the fireplace Ginevra; the first packages of the day should be here at any moment," Tom said from behind the counter while stirring the tea he had in front of him.

Ginny looked back at the flames just in time to see them change colours, and she had to support herself on the closest armchair when she lost balance as her feet disappeared in a small sea of boxes.

"Are you alright?" He asked, Ginny nodded and with a gesture of her wand the boxes began to float around her. "Good morning." She greeted him and pulled her shawl over her shoulders which had slipped to her waist when she had lost her balance. "Where should I put this?"

"You can put them here on the counter," Tom said indicating the space beside him and Ginny floated the boxes in front of her until they landed on the dark wood.

Tom looked at her with attention when she arrived and was pleased to see her clearly more relaxed. Whatever it was that she had the day before, it seemed to have been put under control and Tom hoped that the day would run smoothly and without any drama.

He could not deny he was starting to be curious about her, if he had seen her at Hogwarts, he would have thought she was a Weasley, with all that red hair that resembled those of that family. Then there was the issue related to the way she had suddenly appeared in the store, Tom even had put some time apart to re-read something about Apparating, but he had come even close to finding an explanation for what he had seen.

The owner of the store on the other side of the street, where Burke had been, also was a witness of what had happened, and had passed through the store to talk about it after he sent the girl home, and vowed with her feet together that she seemed to have been pushed into the store more than Apparate.

About her being hired by Burke, well, that was not a mystery, since the skirt she was wearing besides him was all the explanation he needed to why Burke had hired her, and really didn't want to know anything more about it.

However, what really caught his attention was the set of three events to which he, in other circumstances would not give much attention, and dismiss them as coincidences.

Like any respectable wizard, he decided to ignore the offer of having Divination classes, which addressed such issues, for a discipline with some use for his education, and therefore didn't know what to think about it.

* * *

It was with resignation that he began reviewing the mental list of books he had in the store, trying to remember if they had some volumes that would allow him to crash course the subject.

First, it had been the small jolt they interchanged when he touched her that morning, then, the strange dream that night. He couldn't ignore the relationship that he unconsciously had made between the girl from the dream and the woman at his side, and finally the terrible déjà vu when he sent Ginny away and had pulled the logbook in order to review what she had written, and seemed to recognise the handwriting.

That night, his Frankenstein volume was again at risk of touching the dirty surface of his plate, because the feeling had persisted for hours, and Tom could not understand why since he was sure that he had never crossed paths with her.

It was absolutely ridiculous to be considering coincidences as something important, Tom gave credit to prophecies, there was more than enough evidence on the subject, but dreams and déjà vus? Ridiculous!

He was only able to rest when he lost himself in the middle of his books.

'Ginevra, who was she?' He took a sip of tea, the liquid almost cold, then leant to the side and put two fingers on the top of the book where she continued to work. "Please try to write with a more readable handwriting." He said making her huff with surprise.

"Are you saying my handwriting is bad?" Ginny asked, looking at him with some incredulity.

"What? Of course not." Tom straightened on his bench and frowned. "I'm just asking for you to do it because this book is part of the store's archive, if one needs to consult it in the future, it is important that they can easily read what we write."

'The nerve' Ginny thought to turn the pages to read the name of the next object that she had to add to the index. Her letter contrasted with Tom's for not any good reason, with printed letters mixed with cursive ones, it was a disaster, but it was not _that_ unreadable. Not everyone could have the flawless letter that only someone who had learned to write in the '30s could have, she thought with a pang of a bad mood, and he had never complained before.

Tom drank the rest of his tea with a big gulp and started to record the orders in the new logbook, that immediately stored themselves on the shelf behind him as he finished. With Ginny at his side, he could not use that part of the counter to work, and it made him remember that he still had not decided what tasks he should give her.

Tom also did not know if Borgin had heard that his partner had hired him an assistant instead of the person they needed to assist customers and suppliers in other countries.

Borgin's wife should be having their baby very soon and probably would not be pleased to hear that her husband would have to keep the trips abroad instead of adopting a relatively normal work schedule.

He wondered if she would confront Burke.

The last time Burke made a stupid decision that had affected her plans, Mrs Borgin had come to the store in person and caught Burke and Tom in the kitchen, and she proceeded to yell at Burke at the top of her lungs the moment she stepped on the kitchen's floor.

It had been hilarious.

It had been the event of the month, and it had been with some sacrifice that Tom had left the kitchen with his dinner and finished eating on his couch at the attic.

The store did not have shelves as the only way to show their products, it also had a considerable number of glass cabinets, and it was on those that Tom finally found a job for Ginny. The contents of the cabinets should not have been touched for some years; at least he never touched them except to take something off to a client. Those objects were usually somewhat dangerous or simply too much delicate and expensive, to remove; clean and rearrange the cabinets would be a slow process that would require a lot of attention, and it would certainly keep her busy and away from him and the customers for a few weeks.

When he finished what he was doing, he informed Ginny of her new routine, she would continue to make the index as he processed the orders and prepared the letters for the customers, and when he was done, she would begin to organise the cabinets.

Ginny was not particularly enthusiastic about cleaning things, but Tom couldn't blame her, after all, keeping the warehouse and the store was not something that he was particularly excited as well, but besides being a task that had to be done, it helped pass the time.

Burke had come and gone with the letters and parcels to send to their customers, but seized a moment in between to say that according to one of his informants in the Ministry, something big was going to happen, no one knew what, but they should be prepared.

Tom no longer had fingers to count the number of important events that had never happened, and so he limited himself to just nod and agree with everything Burke said, waiting for him to away so that he could back to work.

Tom allowed Ginny to leave early for lunch and she disappeared into the green flames towards the Leaking Cauldron, and he decided to take advantage of his lunch hour to study, so he closed the store and took a sandwich with him to the attic.

When Ginny arrived for the afternoon, Tom had already prepared a cloth, a bucket and a pair of leather gloves so she would not have to touch any object with her bare hands and run the risk of being cursed, or worse.

"Why can't I do this with magic?" Ginny asked after emptying the first cabinet.

"You can use magic, but then there wouldn't be anything else for you to do once you were done." Tom had stopped beside her with an armful of books.

"Unlike other stores, this time of the year is usually quite slow, since everyone starts to focus on buying Christmas gifts, and our offer doesn't really fit into the festive spirit." Ginny stopped rubbing a particularly difficult spot and looked down at Tom raising her eyebrows. "I can't argue that." She said with a smile that matched Tom's and then he continued to walk to the back of the store with his books.

The rest of the day went smoothly, and that night Tom was finally able to finish reading Frankenstein.

* * *

Ginny was pleased with how the day had gone, the work wasn't anything special and gave her plenty of time to think about what she could do to go back home. She had not been able to decide what to write on the letter to Dumbledore, but it was not something that could be rushed.

The wrong word and everything could go very, very bad.

The following day ran in a similar way and the subsequent was the same, as well as the other after that.

There was the beginning of a routine settling in.

Ginny began to understand why people had felt that Tom had a promising future, he had not been less than polite and nice with her in those four days, and if Ginny did not know whom he was, Tom would have left a good first impression.

They had not properly spoken during those days, since Ginny spent more time balancing on the leader half inside the glass cabinets, and Tom didn't look very open to talking while processing the orders that arrived in the morning, the only time they were close to each other. Then he would spend the rest of the time walking between the warehouse and the store's front, organising things and moving them around.

Ginny had some trouble accepting the idea that Tom Riddle could do that kind of manual work, but now, she no longer felt so shocked when he passed by her with just the vest he wore over his shirt and his sleeves rolled up, while embracing a box or books, wand almost falling from his pocket.

He was not the Tom she remembered from the diary, but he definitely was not Lord Voldemort.

He was just Tom Riddle, an employee of a store with doubtful reputation, that was probably still deciding what to do with the rest of his life.

She could not deny she was starting to feel some curiosity about whom he really was.

Ginny was putting the supplies she had used during the day in the warehouse and turned to see Tom lock the store's door and felt his gaze follow her has she walked to the fireplace to get back to the Cauldron.

"Ginevra, Burke asked me to confirm if you will accept the guest room." He said making her embrace the small pot containing the Floo powder against her, with a sigh.

"Yes, I will accept the room" Ginny nodded. "It makes no sense to pay for a room when I can live here without charge."

Tom walked closer to the fireplace and rested is arms over the back of the armchair. "If all the decisions we make on our lives were as easy to make as financial ones, our lives would be much more enjoyable." He said with an understanding nod and a smile. "I only accepted to live here because I could have the entire attic, but you will not stick around long enough for that isn't, Ginevra?"

Ginny recognised the trap in his question and smiled. "True, these issues are always very direct and always have a positive or negative response, not something in the middle. I will bring my stuff Monday. Have a good weekend, Tom" She said throwing the powder at the fire and entering the green flames.

It was with surprise that Ginny faced Albus Dumbledore when she emerged from the fireplace at the Leaking Cauldron. The wizard was a few steps from her, trying to clean his clothes from ashes while talking to a small laughing witch.

Dumbledore feeling observed looked at Ginny and smiled.

Ginny, feeling the flames rise behind her, sign that someone was coming, advanced to him with outstretched hands and a smile because she didn't know what else to do. She had planned to write him a letter, but now she couldn't ignore the opportunity to personally speak with the wizard.

Dumbledore looked at her confused, but received her hands, noting the force with which she holds his. "Professor Dumbledore, I need to talk with you, in private." Dumbledore continued to look at her confused but smiled, a polite way to ask her to continue and inform him of what she wanted. Ginny looked at the witch who looked back at her quite offended and walked away, leaving them alone. "I arrived a week ago from 2000." She said with a whisper that forced Dumbledore to bend down to her. "My name is Ginevra Weasley, my parents are Arthur and Molly Weasley, and I really need your help to get back home." Ginny looked around to make sure no one had heard her and returned her attention to Dumbledore.

Albus Dumbledore did not say anything, merely put a hand on Ginny's arm and pulled her with him to Tom, to whom he asked for a private room for dinner. Tom motioned to one of his waiters to take them to one of the upstairs rooms as well as a menu with the food options for the day. Once inside, Dumbledore took his time to strip off the his cloak and then his coat, arrange them on the back of the chair and reading the menu, making Ginny become increasingly nervous, and she couldn't remember what was appropriate to say at that moment, what was she supposed to say to someone that was dead.

"2000?" He said at last. "And what's life like in 2000?"

Ginny froze and looked at the hands she twisted on her lap, she had spent the week trying to decide what to tell him in her letter, and now she had no time to do anything about it. "We're still in the aftermath of a war." She finally said. "I work for an organisation that was partly responsible for the fall of the next dark wizard that was trying to cleanse the world."

When she looked at the wizard before her, he remained silent and Ginny was relieved that Dumbledore didn't question anything about her words, he just expected her to continue.

Dumbledore probably had a good idea of who would be the next dark wizard anyway.

Feeling encouraged, Ginny explained more details about who she was, and then went into what she was doing on that fateful morning and took out the box that contained the pocket watch and put it on the table, in the space between their dishes.

Dumbledore took the box and opened it slowly, putting the cover near his tableware and took the watch. He turned it over several times between his fingers, watching carefully the decoration on the back. "The story you just told me… Miss Weasley..." He hesitated on her last name. "It's extraordinary, and this watch, I think I know what it is but I must confirm it when I return to Hogwarts."

"Do you think you can fix it?" Ginny started to feel very hopeful.

"I will only be sure when I test its spells." Said Dumbledore again and at that moment Tom came in with the food and to see if everything was in order with the room.

When he left, they began to eat in silence, and Ginny could only find the courage to speak when they were almost finished. She was beginning to feel quite shaken by the fact that she was sharing a meal with someone who had died, she probably would not be so controlled if it was Fred who sat before her. "What do you think it is, please?" She pleaded.

"Well, it's obvious that it enables its user to travel through time, but it's not a time-turner, I mean, is not an object to travel conventionally through time. As I have said, I will have to analyse the spells to confirm, but I believe this watch lets you go to a particular day in the past and come back the same day you left, unlike normal time-turners that are used to go back at most a few days, and the person is required to follow the course of the past to return to the day they travelled.

"Do you think it belonged to someone in particular?" Ginny asked frowning, accepting Dumbledore explanation for what had happened to her last week and feeling relieved by not having to live the next 50 years of History day-by-day, at least that was what she expected now. "It has a large 'S' in the back."

"I've never seen this watch even though I have heard of it, I believe it belonged to a Joshua Smithson, a wizard that lived in the last century and eventually died in Azkaban, after successfully changing the past of some important Ministry employees, I believe he led to the death of some people, by not allowing them to even exist. But no one ever found his watch."

After a moment of silence, he continued.

"I understand that on the day you started this... little adventure, I've already died." Dumbledore finally said, making Ginny look at him with her mouth open as he began to laugh. "Do not worry Ginny, I know that I will die someday. I just need to know something about my life, and I think it won't cause any problems." Ginny continued to look at him startled and sat up on her chair as he leant forward and rested his elbows on the table. "Do I have my own card on the Chocolate Frogs?"

Ginny blinked several times and shook her head, smiling in the end. "Yes professor, you will get your own card. I think that between me and my brothers, we have a set of 27 cards with your image."

Dumbledore stood up and began to put back his clothes. "Then I will certainly die a very happy man, after all, one of the highest honours that a wizard can expect in his life, is to appear on one of those cards" He adjusted the cloak and smiled at Ginny as he put the watch in the box and then on an inside pocket. "Don't worry about the watch, I will try to fix this and send it back to you as soon as possible, please focus on not attracting attention to yourself. Now, if you'll excuse me, I promised an old friend a glass of firewhisky; please don't hesitate to write to me if you need anything." He was about to leave the room when he turned back again. "To where should I send my owl?"

"To the owl's post here in the Diagon Alley, I rented a box for the time being. It is easier, in case I have to move somewhere."

"Of course, then goodnight Ginny." Dumbledore smiled and closed the door behind his back.

Ginny plopped down on her chair and looked at the fire crackling in the fireplace across the small room.

That encounter with Dumbledore had gone better than expected, but at the same time, it was embarrassing. She felt better now that she was done with it and felt lucky to have found him that night, now she could pass the weekend worrying about going to live with Tom Riddle.

It was with resignation that she bewitched the inside of one shopping bag, and began to put all of her clothes inside. She did not feel motivated with the move and began again to question her idea of living at the Borgin & Burkes.

Dumbledore had had no difficulty in perceiving that he was dead, would Tom not notice that she knew him? He shouldn't be so kind as Dumbledore if he found out that she knew more than she was telling.

She should just move to someplace in the south of France, near the mountains, where the weather was warm and she could have a garden to keep her distracted while she waited for Dumbledore to send her the watch.

But she had to try to do something to fix the future, she thought dropping her new high heels inside the bag.

"No travelling bag Ginevra?" Tom asked Monday morning, referring to the paper bag that Ginny was carrying in her hand.

"Apparently not…" She smiled at him and started to head toward the stairs. "You don't have to come, I remember where the room is." She said when he began to follow her.

She slowly climbed the stairwell, feeling the creaking wood under her feet, thinking of morbid things made of wood, like coffins.

She opened the door to her new room, everything was as the day that Tom had shown it to her, everything but a door she hadn't previously noticed, but didn't hide anything more exciting than a small bathroom as she found out when she picked inside.

No panic room for her.

Taking her wand, Ginny placed the bag in the middle of the floor and touched it with the tip, making her clothes fly off the bag and into her wardrobe, then she sat on the bed, a hand on her neck and a sigh, feeling like this was the worse idea ever.

Even worse than going after Kevedo alone.

When she returned to the store, Tom was already working and ignored her, so Ginny merely sat on her seat and watched Tom until he eventually stopped to ask what was she wanted. "I don't have anything to do."

"Oh... hum… let me think. I suppose you can empty the shop window, then we can choose some objects from around the store for display." Ginny looked at him with raised eyebrows, as if she had just realised something he was not aware. "What?"

"Nothing! I'll get right to it!" Ginny disappeared in the warehouse, thinking about how she would be the one responsible for the display she saw in that fatidical morning.

Ginny was sitting inside the shop window trying to restore some pieces of the wood frame when Tom peered through the small door on the side. "Ginevra, it's time for lunch, Borgin is expecting me at the Cauldron, he's passing through town and..." Tom stopped talking when he saw the frightened look on Ginny's face.

He had automatically extended a hand to help her come out and she had accepted it, now she had one foot flat on the floor, one hand resting on the door frame, and the other between his fingers, and was not breathing.

It was the first time they touched since the day they first meet, and Tom was not thinking about that when he reached his hand to help her, but Ginny obviously was. "What is it?" He asked confused, then suddenly remembering her odd behaviour from the day he had first meet her and their first afternoon of work.

"Nothing…" Ginny removed her hand from his with a twitch. "Just go and don't be late for lunch." She passed around him and took the pot with the Floo powder from the fireplace and held it out in Tom's direction when he disappeared in the green flames, Ginny let out a groan and sat down in an armchair with her head resting on her knees.

He had not said anything, but he was clearly thinking about how weird she was.

Ginny had not reacted in the best way to his touch, and Tom had done nothing extraordinary, anyone else would have done the same, but she hasn't been able to control her reaction.

The idea of touching him made her very uncomfortable, since before her adventure to the past. The last time he had touched her, he had almost killed her. She let out a big sigh and got up, there was nothing she could do to about what had happened and she only had an hour to go through the kitchen's cabinets and find something to make for lunch.

She kept herself busy in the kitchen during the lunch hour, cooking, eating and reading a copy of Frankenstein someone had left on the table, when it was time to open the store she went down to the ground floor and sat on her stool behind the counter, waiting for Tom.

After the first fifteen minutes passed Ginny convoked the book from the kitchen. When half an hour passed, she began to seriously question what to do in relation to his absence, and when an hour passed, Ginny gave up and returned to the kitchen. Getting bored really fast, Ginny returned to the store and spent some time working on the shop window; when she stepped outside to see how it looked she was approached by an old wizard, who complained about the store being closed all the time and how irresponsible the new generations were for fifteen minutes, making Ginny shake in the cold weather until she was able to send him away and get inside.

Not feeling motivated to clean anything else and finding the empty store to creepy to work alone, Ginny returned to the kitchen and started making dinner. She began to feel quite annoyed at being left alone without any warning, but then, she was also relieved to be able to spend the afternoon in solitude, if she was lucky Tom would only come at night when she was asleep, or even on the following day. It would be perfect!

It was with this hope and a huge amount of boredom from being alone that Ginny lost herself in front of the stove.

The kitchen was flooded with the voices of The Andrews Sisters singing Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy when Tom arrived, the volume was nearly at its maximum and he found Ginny sitting at the table with her back to the door, her knees were resting on the table's side while she balanced on the chair's back legs. She was focused on the book he had left on the table and didn't hear him call her, Tom looked around the kitchen and realised she had been cooking when he noticed a pot of tea and a cake.

Ginny almost fell back when Tom pulled out the chair next to her and sat with a mug of tea and a slice of her cake. She got up and turned off the radio and leant against the counter, crossing her arms over her chest. "I can't believe it!" She said.

"What?" Asked Tom, focused on his slice of cake.

"That after living me alone for hours without any warming, almost scaring me to death, you have the nerve to steal my cake," Ginny said with a raised eyebrow and a small smile, watching him eat.

"I called you several times, next time don't listen to the radio so loud, and besides I would take a slice, either way, I love this cake." Tom was still focused on the food in front of him and so he didn't saw Ginny smirk. The cake wasn't the result of her feeling bored, that had been the four glasses of wine she had. Ginny remembered that Tom had listed some of his favourite dishes during Christmas day when she was at Hogwarts, and she had decided to test whether he had told her the truth or not.

Apparently, he had been honest.

"Well, okay then. But what happened?"

"Mr Borgin wanted me to go talk to a customer, a particularly difficult guy that needed some incentive to sell us a rare manuscript."

"Incentive? Like… a violent type of incentive?" Ginny asked letting her arms fall and held the counter, feeling apprehensive.

"You mean if Borgin sent me to curse the old man?" Tom turned towards her with a frown, but she didn't say anything and Tom interpreted that as a yes, turning his attention back his plate, he continued. "This store, despite the nature of its business, does not use any violence in its transactions, or I would ever be inclined in participate in such things. I'm not a violent person Ginevra, it's not my nature."

"Oh..." Ginny didn't know what to think about that, she didn't know if he had ever killed someone just for the thrill, she did know he liked to manipulate and play with people, but that wasn't something she would consider violent.

"I am sorry for your disappointment."

Ginny rolled her eyes, she was not surprised of course, if the Borgin & Burkes would use any method relatively violent it would have been forced to close, and if Tom was part of such things, it would have had some kind of impact in the store, Dumbledore would know, and everyone would know about it in the future.

Tom finished eating and got up with the cup of tea on his hand and watched her for a few moments, his blue eyes expressionless.

"Thanks for the cake." He finally said slightly lifting the mug as a token of appreciation. "See you tomorrow."

Ginny followed him with her gaze as he crossed the short distance between the table and the hallway, his steps becoming lighter as he moved away from her.

She still felt strange around Tom, just about to run away if he did any sudden movement, but this little test went better than she expected and Ginny went to sleep with some confidence, trying to remember more information he had shared with her during their interaction through the diary, something that she could test without stirring suspicion.

* * *

"Tom? Tom!?" Ginny was at the base of the stairs looking up at Tom's closed attic door with a grey apron around her waist and a kitchen cloth hanging from its pocket. "Tom, are you awake?" The door suddenly opened and Tom looked alarmed at her, Ginny started to blush when she saw him only wearing a white shirt open halfway to his chest, wet hair and a towel on his hand, signs that he had just come out of the shower. 'So, evil wizards also shower...' Ginny thought, trying to diverge her attention from him.

"I'm making pancakes. Dou you want some?" Ginny asked with a smile, putting a hand on her hip.

"You called me like the store was being robbed just to ask if I wanted pancakes?" Tom looked incredulous.

"Hum… Yeah." Said Ginny increasing her smile, but Tom was still looking at her oddly and started again to dry his hair as he thought, making Ginny stop a line of thought before it got weird and focusing on the fact that It was very likely that nobody had ever cooked anything for him.

"Why not? I'll be right down." He said closing the door.

When Tom came down Ginny was already sitting at the table waiting for him, he put his coat on the chair's back and pulled his waistcoat down as he sat, watching the dish in front of him. "How can you cook two of my favourite things in less than twenty-four hours?"

"Luck?" Tom merely smiled in her direction and started to eat. "Are they okay?"

"They are very good," Tom said when he finished chewing. "I think the last time I ate them I was still at Hogwarts."

"Oh... That's a long time ago, no? I heard that the food at Hogwarts is very good."

"And it's true Ginevra. It was fantastic and I think that is what I most miss from that castle, besides the library."

"What do you usually eat for breakfast?" Ginny asked, smiling at him.

"Nothing as elaborate." He said slightly hitting his fork on the edge of the plate. "An apple and tea, sometimes I go to the Cauldron if I'm feeling like having some proper English breakfast."

"That's pretty sad..." Ginny said in a playful tone that made him laugh, she wasn't surprised that he wouldn't be able to cook anything besides potions.

Tom and Ginny spent the rest of the day finishing the work on the shop window, and when a large owl entered the store and dropped a letter in front of Tom, he actually warned her that he had to return to visit the previous day's client.

Ginny was lying on her bed reading Frankenstein when she heard Tom arrive in the kitchen, she followed the sound of his footsteps in the hallway with her eyes, fixing them at the door when she heard him stop near it, and then walk the remaining of the hallway and up the stairs to the attic.

The next morning, Ginny didn't cook anything more elaborate than tea, since she didn't want to give the idea that she would be cooking every day, it was enough to be cleaning the store, she didn't want to add another boring chore to that. She was not his maid. "How did it go?"

Tom looked at her over the newspaper. "Well, I got the deal and some extras, both Burke and Borgin will go to the client's house to complete the business," Ginny smiled back at him, he looked proud of himself, by doing not only what he was supposed but more and bringing more profits to the store.

During the following days they returned to their normal routine, Ginny didn't feel weird by starting conversations with him during meals as she did if she had to touch him, the silences they shared were almost similar to those shared with her brothers at home, and no longer had that awkward atmosphere that made her anxious.

Ginny was beginning to miss her brothers and parents, missing her bedroom and her meetings in the Order, but especially she missed Harry, his hugs and kisses, although she their kind of break up.

She wondered how much time passed for them, would they been waiting for her during the rest of the day, wondering why she was taking so long to be back? Would they have to give her as missing person? Would Kevedo be caught and interrogated? Or every day that passed here, was just a fraction of a moment and when Ginny returned to her time, she would be back to the store's floor, and a quite angry Kevedo would be waiting for her with a wand in his hand, ready to curse her?

She had taken advantage of Tom's last absence from the store to go to the owl's mail post to see if Dumbledore had written, she would sometimes get anxiety stabs just by thinking about the watch that had brought her there, worrying about Dumbledore failing to help and fix the watch. She also wondered about the reasons Kevedo could have to look for that small thing.

Certainly, he didn't want an object that would allow him to freely travel to any point in time to just see the hours, there had to be something bigger behind, something connected to Lord Voldemort. Did he leave instructions on how to be brought back? Without the Horcruxes Voldemort was definitely dead, did Kevedo intended to go back in time to get one of the Horcruxes?

Ginny looked over the cabinet she was cleaning to Tom, who was on the other side of the store speaking with a client, looking friendly and smiling. It was moments like those that made her sometimes wonder about how could it be the same wizard; how could he have done all those things in the future.

Feeling observed, he looked at her but quickly returned his attention back to his client.

Ginny still hadn't decided what to do about him, and the weight that any decision she would make could have in the future frightened her, for example, she knew that her parents had become closer when they had joined the Order, and this closeness resulted in marriage. If she prevented Tom Riddle from becoming Lord Voldemort, would her parents fall in love anyway? Could that be like, a fixed point in time and they would marry besides never entering the Order? There were real chances that if she did anything, she would prevent her own existence!

Lost in thought, Ginny was withdrawing the various objects from the cabinet on autopilot, she didn't even realise that Tom had accompanied the client to the fireplace or when he had disappeared in the warehouse. So it was with surprise that she felt the teeth of the human skull with considerably large canines she was holding, pierce her leather gloves and bury its fangs on her flesh, causing her to fall to the ground while screaming in pain.

When Tom found Ginny, the blood had begun to soak her skirt and she was trying to force open the skull's jaw. Lowering himself to the ground, Tom recognised the skull as belonging to a vampire, those creatures, even after dead tended to keep some nasty reflexes and he had completely forgotten that they had one of those in the store.

"Let me see!" He said in an authoritative tone, but Ginny ignored him and kept trying to open the jaw, but the more she struggled, the greater was the force exerted by the skull on her hand.

Ginny squealed in surprise when he grabbed her legs and pulled her towards him, making her give him access to her hand and the skull. "Tom, don't! Please don't!" Ginny screaming when he pulled the skull to him, while she tried to pull her hand back to her, causing the skull to bite even further, making her feel as if half of her hand was being torn and couldn't help but to press her forehead against his shoulder, clenching her teeth. Tom put his hand inside the skull and pushed, releasing one side of the jaw and immediately relieving pressure on Ginny's hand, then he freed the other side of the bone.

Ginny had stopped breathing and exhaled against is neck when he pulled the skull's fangs from her hand, two lines of blood dropping to her clothes.

"I'm sorry Ginevra, I completely forgot that we had this thing." Said Tom, but Ginny was not looking at him, she rose her head from his shoulder, the same one that she had touched on the Chamber of Secrets and was trying to completely focus on her hand, eyes wide open. "Ginevra?" She merely nodded her head negatively and hold one of the shelves beside her to get up, the pain in her hand was irradiating to the shoulder, she had never had so much pain in her life and could hardly breathe.

Tom put an arm around her waist and with the other hand held the forearm of her injured hand. He could feel her getting even tenser, but also felt her lean on his arms for support while he led her through the store, leaving a trail of blood behind them.

They sat on the benches behind the counter and he began to pull the glove, which led Ginny to try to take her hand from his hold.

"Let me see Ginevra, if we don't take the glove off I can't see the severity of the bite or stop the bleeding." He said grabbing her wrist. Ginny stared at his blue eyes and nodded, Tom didn't need any more incentive to start working.

Calling a clean kitchen cloth from the first floor, Tom wiped Ginny's hand, the bleeding was beginning to stop and that was a good sign. He took a box with some potions and bandages from a shelf inside the counter and summoned a bowl with clean water. "Looks like we are lucky..." he said cleaning her hand with the wet cloth. "It's not that bad."

"Not that bad?" Ginny echoed in a whisper, now that the shock began to leave her, she felt increasingly angry. "That thing almost ate half of my hand!" She said raising her voice.

"It could have been worse; you know?" Tom had taken the lid off one of the bottles and began to apply some of the liquid to the wounds, making Ginny inhale when it began to simmer. "If the skull was recent we probably would have gone to St. Mungo's, as you must know the poison takes several years to disappear from the inside of the vampire's teeth and the treatment is much more painful than its bite." Tom bandaged Ginny's hand and made sure it was secure, then turned his attention to the other hand who was still involved in the leather glove.

"I can take my own glove, Tom." But he ignored her and pulled the glove slowly from her right hand, gradually revealing her pale skin, then hold her hand and turned it over in his.

"I just want to make sure that no-"

"Riddle!" The door opened suddenly, almost snatching the bell from its holder and making them jump at the unexpected sound. "Great job with the old Johnson! You can count on…" Burke stopped halfway looking at them with surprise.

Tom pulled his hands into his lap and Ginny put her wounded hand to her chest, covering it with the other, Burke followed Ginny movements and opened his eyes in shock when he saw the blood, and then followed its trail to the floor until it disappeared around the corner of a bookshelf.

"What happened?" He asked approaching the counter.

"I forgot we had a vampire skull in the store," Tom answered dryly, pulling down his waistcoat and noticing that he also had some bloodstains on his clothes. "But everything is fine and tomorrow Ginevra will have her hand as new."

"Well, at least that..." Burke looked back at the floor, the blood was beginning to dry. But none of you broke the vampire's head, right?" He said disappearing behind the shelves and cabinets. Tom turned away from Ginny with a sigh and followed Borgin, leaving her holding her hand.

Burke spent the rest of the day in the store, arguing with Tom about the products that the new client would send to the store, potential buyers, and another client who had been collecting some objects that had belonged to Grindelwald and seemed available to talk about a potential sale.

The conversation continued in the kitchen and Ginny, feeling rather excluded by the nature of the topics not being part of her responsibilities, besides that her hand and began to feel very sore, she decided to make a sandwich and disappear into her room.

Ginny was sleeping for several hours when a sudden explosion woke her, followed by a body hitting a wall. Half asleep, Ginny left the room pulling the pants she was wearing on the fatal morning she time travelled before they slipped down her hips. She ran up the attic stairs and knock on the door a few times before realising that she was in front of Tom's door and not in front of Fred and George's room.

Swallowing hard, Ginny knocked again and called his name, but she didn't hear any response, she knocked again and this time, she put her ear on the door, trying to hear something. Turning the knob, she heard the latch open, but the door didn't move, she used some more strength but the door insisted on not moving, something should have fallen against it.

She insisted and the door opened a little, and the sound of something falling attracted her attention to the ground, where Tom's hand rested against the floorboards, palm up and with the fingers half-closed.

Swearing, Ginny pushed again, she could not be able to open it but at least she had to be able to create a space to pass and enter the room. The door closed with a crash behind her and Tom fell to his side, his head resting on his arm.

Ginny, looking at the chaos around the room, struggled a few moments about she should just drag him from the door to be able to leave to her room, or if she should help.

Obviously he had not died that night because if he had there would be no Lord Voldemort in the future, and anyway, he had helped her with the skull so... With a sigh, she took the wand from her back pocket and raised him off the ground with a spell, trying not to trip over several books that were scattered on the floor, she took him to the bed and dropped it on the mattress a little harder than she had planned.

Satisfied with her work she looked around, that half of the room didn't seem as destroyed as the other, one of the curtains that separated the room was torn and there were some papers scattered on the floor, but on the other side, the chair seemed to be broken, the books had fallen from the shelf, there were papers all over the floor.

Ginny walked to the desk and put it upright with a spell and then walked around it to see how the chair was, she found the cauldron that had exploded, still dripping some of the potions to the floor.

She decided to ignore the cauldron and the unknown potion, whatever it was, it was better that she left it for him to take care off since it was certainly dangerous. She stepped back, deciding it was best to go back to her room, betting on the fact that if he woke up and needed something he would call, and that was when she felt her foot pressing against a book, but it was not a book she saw when she looked down and lifted her foot.

Slowly lowering herself to hold the black notebook, she swallowed hard.

It had been so long since she had had it on her hands, that she had forgotten the sensation of its cold cover, and the heaviness of its pages.

She opened Tom's diary on the first page and his name was written there, still very visible since he had written it only a few years ago instead of decades. Leafing through it, Ginny opened the diary and put her hand on one of the pages, she could feel it pulsing with magic, so obvious and loud; the magic that held his soul in the pages seemed to call her.

Looking around and without thinking about what she was doing, Ginny found a feather still with ink that Tom was probably using before his potion exploded and he was thrown against the door. She securely it between her fingers, and rested its tip on the empty paper.

'Hello Tom' she wrote with a firm handwriting, which she almost didn't recognise. The letters disappeared and a new sentence appeared under the place where hers had been. 'My Ginny, I've missed you.'

Ginny dropped the feather and covered her mouth that she had opened in horror. How was it possible? How could he have written that? Tell her that he missed her! They would only meet in the future, many decades after that moment, how could it be?

Consumed by the diary, her gaze fixed on the page that had returned to its original emptiness, Ginny didn't realise that the real Tom had woken.

He was sitting on the bed and slowly putting a hand to his head and looking around, the last thing he remembered was to be taking some notes about the potion he was making and suddenly being pushed against the nearest wall. He was about to let himself fall back on the bed when he noticed Ginny, suddenly understanding why he was no longer on the floor. She had her back to him and seemed to hold something in her hands. With a bad feeling, he rose from the bed, turning an arm to help dissipate the pain on his shoulder, and walked towards Ginny.

She suddenly turned and pulled the diary against her chest, for much of Tom's horror, but he didn't say anything, he couldn't let her know that the empty notebook she was holding had any importance to him.

"By Merlin's beard Tom! You scared me! And you shouldn't be standing!" Ginny said startled but with a smile. "I had a very similar notebook to this when I was young, that I used as a diary, I guess I got lost on my thoughts and didn't hear you coming" She put the notebook on the desk and move towards Tom, pushing him back into the bed, still smiling. "So what happened? I heard this explosion, you were on the floor against the door and I was barely able to open it!" Tom sat down when the back of his legs hit the mattress, trying to make sense of her fast words. "I hope that potion is not dripping to the floor below... Tom?"

"Hmm?"

"Are you okay?" Ginny bent down, grabbing Tom's face on her hands, forcing his blue eyes to focus on her brown ones. Leaning forward to let her fingers run through his hair, she gently massaged his scalp looking for some fractures. Tom's eyes were closed when she took her hands away from his hair.

"I am fine." He finally said, opening his eyes. "I think I hit the door too hard."

"Well, okay then. So if you don't need anything I'll go back to bed, but if you change your mind please call me." Tom nodded and watched her leave and closed the door behind her.

When the sound of her footsteps disappeared on the hall, he got up and crossed the room to the desk and grabbed his diary. Flipping its pages several times to see if she had done anything, but other than the first page where he had written his name, the others were still empty.

However, there was something about Ginny holding the diary that disturbed him, and it was something more than the simple fact that she had held his Horcrux on her hands.


	4. Chapter 4

Tom did not lay down when Ginny closed the door behind her.

First, he made a spell to clean up the room, then cleaned the rest of the potion that he had been working on, losing some time trying to find the paper he had been writing on before the cauldron exploded and reviewed what he had written, adding a few paragraphs about what had happened.

When he finally laid down, leaning back on the pillows he had rested against the wall, he flipped through the diary's pages that contained his Horcrux. Giving in to an impulse, he got out of the bed again, sat down at his desk with the notebook opened in front of him and let a few drops of ink drip on one of the empty pages, which were quickly absorbed by the magic contained in the paper.

Now that he had the feather in is hand, he didn't know what to do, what to write, something very unusual for him. He took a deep breath and placed the tip of the feather against the paper, leaving the paint blot while deciding what to write.

'A witch held you in her hands, did she found out what you are?' His sentence disappeared and beneath a new one appeared with the same handwriting.

'She does not need to find what she already knows.'

"What she already knows?" Tom repeated aloud getting up from his chair abruptly, resting his hands on both sides of the notebook and watching the phrase disappear. He wetted the feather in the ink again and stared at the paper again.

'What does she know?' The question seemed to remain on the page for a moment longer than necessary and Tom clenched his teeth, starting to feel angry. The ink disappeared again, but the Horcrux didn't answer, Tom wrote the same question again, insisting, but received no reply. How could his own Horcrux not answer him? Tom threw the notebook against the wall and punched the wood, frustrated.

Taking a deep breath, he straightened up and went to get his diary from the floor, then headed to the bed and laid down, staring at the ceiling thoughtfully.

Something was going on with that new assistant of his, and the fact that he didn't know what it was, filled him with a deep sense of unease.

Eventually, he fell asleep, still holding the notebook to his chest.

When Tom walked downstairs, he found Ginny in front of the stove, a spatula in one hand pointing to the ceiling and the other hand on her back. "Good morning, Tom," she said, looking over her shoulder. "I thought you would enjoy a heartier breakfast after what happened last night. Are you feeling better?" She asked, turning her attention to the stove and shaking the pan over the fire.

Tom pulled the chair closer to him and sat down slowly. "A bit sore, but I'll survive." He expected Ginny to ask him what potion had he been working on and what had happened for it to blow up.

Now that he was a few hours away from the event, he was actually upset about what happened, especially after re-reading the notes he had made after she left and realized how stupid he had been, how that little explosion could have been a disastrous event, if he had turned the liquid again, the potion would pass to a gaseous state and therefore develop into a potent poison.

However, Ginny didn't ask him anything, instead, she kept talking, telling him how two of her brothers were constantly blowing things on their room and kept the house on a permanent state of alert.

Taking advantage of the fact that Ginny was turned away from him on the other side of the room, Tom took his time to observe her. Her red hair was pulled back in a braid, she was wearing a grey sweater and a black skirt that accentuated her curves.

She looked plain boring, and didn't seem to be anything different from all the other people with whom he had crossed, but there had to be something behind it. All those coincidences, the way she looked at him, which started as a gaze of horror and was one of curiosity, how the atmosphere in the store was changing and it no longer was tense but sometimes kind of intimate, and now the Horcrux was being oddly enigmatic and refusing to answer the pressing questions he put forth about how could she know about the nature of the notebook.

"How many siblings do you have?" Tom asked after Ginny placed the plate in front of him and they started to eat.

"I have six brothers," Ginny said. "Five..." she corrected herself. "One died during the war."

"Growing up with six brothers couldn't have been easy," Tom said, ignoring the last part Ginny said to avoid a delicate conversation.

"Well, I can tell you I've seen enough naked guys to last me several years, I learned to fight, and I am an excellent Quidditch player." Tom rested the tips of his silverware on the plate and looked at Ginny, amused.

"What?" She asked.

"Nothing." He said, putting a piece of pancake into his mouth. "How's your hand?" He asked after swallowing.

"Much better, I think..." Tom pulled the chair closer to Ginny, stretching a hand towards her.

"Let me have a look." Ginny looked at him, surprised, and hesitantly put her hand, still wrapped in the bandage, on his. Tom slowly removed the cloth and ran his fingers over the red welts that contrasted with Ginny's white skin, all that remained of the strong bite she had received the day before.

"How is it?" She asked in a whisper because he was too close, far too close, and Ginny didn't feel like there was enough air between them to breath.

When Tom looked up, Ginny's gaze fixed on his eyes, he couldn't help but lean in. The flames in the fireplace suddenly roared and Tom straightened his back, pushing the chair with him to its original place and picked up the silverware, dropping her hand as if he'd been burnt. Ginny took in sudden gulps of air, tried to hide that her breath had hitched, and also grabbed hers, attacking her pancakes ravenously, feeling her face flush, half from shame and the other half from anger for allowing him to get so close.

'Did they had a 'moment' or something? This was not ok' She thought angry.

Burke came out of the fireplace, brushing the ashes off his clothes and sank down onto the nearest chair, putting his arms on the table and burying his face between of them, immediately starting to snore.

"Mr Burke?" Ginny called him, stretching a hand toward the other wizard, feeling somewhat worried, but Tom raised his hand, calling her attention and made her stop with a nod. After a few seconds the wizard across the table rose and slumped against the back of the chair, still asleep, his head tilted back at an angle that couldn't be comfortable.

Tom stood up slowly, picked up his plate, his mug of tea and motioned for Ginny to follow him. She followed him into the hallway, also taking her things, putting everything on the counter next to Tom. "What was that?" She finally asked, still surprised by what she had just seen.

Ginny didn't remember seeing someone drunk like that on her whole life.

"One or two very long nights," Tom said between bites, completely serene, obviously at ease with the debacle they'd both just witnessed.

Ginny felt in that moment that she could relate to Burke, not being extremely drunk, but rather the feeling of severe exhaustion.

Her room had seemed claustrophobically small last night and after what had happened with Tom, she couldn't help but pace for hours, riddled with anxiety. From the moment she had closed the door behind her and turned the key on the lock, the words from the diary swam in her head and now, Ginny felt like she could rip her own eyes out if it would help her forget what she had seen. But Ginny knew there was nothing she could do to forget what she had read on those pages, and what she had felt when she had to hold it in her hands; she could only try to understand what had happened.

How could he have recognised her when they would only meet in fifty years in the future? Ginny didn't even have written her name...

All that came to her mind was the old Muggle concept of soul mates; two souls that would recognise each other, in a hundred worlds, in a hundred lifetimes, across the realms of time and space. But these were just tales of fancy, of childhood fairy tales, of bedtime stories.

It couldn't be that, but it was what came to her in that moment.

Tom Riddle stood at her side, unaware of who or what she was – but there was a part of him, separated and divided from the entity that knew her, that had memories of her. How could this be, if it hadn't flouted the rules of time?

Ginny looked at him then. Tom had finished eating and was now blowing his tea, reading the newspaper that rested on the counter.

What she would not give to be able to ask him about it, probably not even he himself was aware that his Horcrux could do that.

Letting herself go back to the day that Harry had saved her, and she was safe in her mother's arms in Dumbledore's office, hearing the headmaster's theory about what had happened, and now she wondered about what he had said, questioned whether the Horcrux, had left a more lasting impression on her that didn't fade away.

The idea of any kind of bond between her and the wizard sitting next to her was truly horrifying.

She had used almost all of her willpower to leave her bedroom that morning, a voice screamed at her to stay away from Tom, but Ginny decided not only to ignore it but to cook for him. When she tied the apron around her waist, she felt like she was tying back the nagging conscience in her mind that told her she was insane for even talking to Tom Riddle.

Nevertheless, Ginny couldn't find the strength to do so, even though who he was, or maybe exactly because of who he was.

No matter how much she tried to deny what she felt after her first year ended, and even now, every time she thought about it, of how betrayed she felt during those summer holidays before returning to Hogwarts for the second year, there were days when she had missed the diary, because she knew deep within, he had been her first best friend, the one that would never share her secrets and make fun of her.

She had told him everything, even if they were insignificant things from someone with 11 years, they were important for her at the time. Now the problem began again; she became too used to him, dangerously fond of his presence. And she knew the risk associated with that from experience.

When Ginny finished eating, Tom made the dishes disappear into the sink upstairs, and began the process of opening the store. As Ginny watched him, she frowned. He was quieter than Ginny had grown to get used, and she began to feel anxious. 'Does he know? Did the Horcrux tell him anything?' She thought, feeling her throat tighten, constricting with fear.

The sound of the orders of the day exiting the fire made her jump on her sit. Tom made them float to the counter with a shift of his wand, placing them beside her and smiled, letting her know that now she would be responsible for the registration of the articles.

Ginny was relieved to see him smile.

If he thought something strange was going on, that there was something different about her and the story she had shared, he didn't show, making Ginny assume his silence had something to do with the accident he had during the night, or what had just happened in the kitchen.

The morning went by rather quickly because of the new task division, for Ginny it was doing something new and different, and for Tom because he could check more carefully some of the books that had arrived and think about what had happened before Burke came out of the fireplace.

It started with the fact that he had wanted to verify what had been the result of the healing potion whose recipe he had changed, to make its action faster, but the situation got out of hand. Now he was starting to feel uncomfortable when they touched as well, maybe not so much like her, but enough to annoy him. He was not the type of man to lose control, especially around a woman. But that moment had been different, with her so close that he had realised that she had sustained her breath.

Tom had never been so happy to see Burke as he had in that morning.

Trying to put the issue aside and failing again and again, even when he had to concentrate to reset the vampire's jaw to the rest of its skull without being bitten, his thought always went to the same place, and when lunch time came, Tom was almost convinced that the only solution he had was to use Legilimency on Ginny, because she would never voluntarily tell him anything.

Tom was about to block the fireplace from the customers when the fire changed its colour and a wizard came out of the flames. He was dressed in black, which emphasised his pallid skin, aristocratic features and blonde hair.

"Tom! I finally managed to come!" Said the wizard, walking Tom with an outstretched hand that Tom shook. "Abraxas... what brings you here? We're about to close."

"You, of course, I came to pick you up for lunch. We need to talk about this weekend." He said putting his hands in his pockets in a relaxed way and a big smile on his face obviously pleased to have lunch with Tom and the plans he had made for them.

"This weekend?" Tom repeated frowning in confusion, he didn't remember having planned anything with Abraxas in recent weeks.

"Yes, you're coming with me and I won't accept any other thing?" Malfoy said, towering over Tom and looking intimidating. "My mother will hate you forever if you refuse." He added.

"Well, fine then; let me just close the door." While Tom moved toward the door to close it and officially begin lunchtime. Behind him, Malfoy walk towards the counter when he noticed Ginny. "I didn't know someone new was hired." He said leaning on the countertop.

Tom approached the fireplace and picked up the pot with Floo powder. "Borgin hired her a few weeks ago, her name is Ginevra. Ginevra, Abraxas Malfoy." Tom said introducing them. Malfoy reached for Ginny and when she put her hand on his, he gently kissed it. "My pleasure." He said with a brief smile and turned his back to her, walking towards Tom and the fireplace.

Abraxas was the first to enter the flames, leaving Tom behind, who put the pot back in place after taking a handful of the powder. "Abraxas Malfoy... I don't think I'll ever forget him," snorted Ginny behind the counter, eliciting an amused smirk from Tom. When he disappeared, Ginny wiped the back of her hand on her skirt, trying to erase the sense of Abraxas' lips from her skin and feeling like she would surely develop some kind of rash from being touched by a Malfoy.

Taking a deep breath, Ginny stood up and started to walk up the stairs toward the kitchen, opening the door with more force than necessary, making Burke, still sitting in the chair where he had dropped hours before, wake to the sudden noise and almost toppling from his seat. "What!?" He asked with a growl, straightening and rubbing his eyes with both hands.

"I just opened the door too hard, I apologise." Ginny started walking towards the counter where they kept the bread.

"Where is Riddle?"

"He went to have lunch with a friend."

"Oh..."

Ginny decided, based on that sound, that it wouldn't be wise to be alone with him in the same room so she quickly prepared something to eat and disappeared into her bedroom, giving short and succinct responses to the small talk Burke was trying with her.

* * *

Sitting at a table next to a window with a view to the Muggle street, Malfoy shared with Tom how his work at the Ministry was going, the way he was again promoted, his distaste for the growing number of wizards with Muggle blood who were joining the workforce and rising into management positions, even in insignificant departments. Apparently, a wizard with two muggles parents and no single ancestor with identifiable magic on his line had managed to enter the Department of Mysteries, one of the most important ones of the Ministry.

Tom listened thoughtfully, Abraxas Malfoy, as the latest member of the Malfoy Family was quickly rising through the ranks of the Ministry, and the more he rose, the better the quality of the information he shared, either through the occasional meals they shared, or the constant letters they exchanged, always about how the wizard society would never be able to sustain itself if Muggle borns and half-bloods would keep being accepted.

Like Malfoy and him, there were more, much more, thinking like them. Tom's name circulated among them, drawing the attention of former Grindelwald supporters with his ideas and opinions, and other wizards that didn't see their interests reflected in the inclusive policies of the Ministry. Lately, his group had begun to call itself the Death Eaters, a name that made them feel united under a cause that would rejoice with death and the supremacy of the pureblood wizards, over inferior wizards and even Muggles. For Tom, it was a name that represented the set of wizards that could help him live forever in the perfect utopia he had imagined for the world.

They really only needed someone to guide them.

When they finished eating, the conversation dramatically changed its direction. "Your new co-worker, she seems to be quite friendly. What's her last name?" Abraxas asked, truly curious.

"I don't know." Tom answered, watching the Muggles across the glass, feeling bored.

"You don't know?" Malfoy was dumbfounded. There was rarely a thing Tom Riddle didn't know. "Then, from where did she come from?"

Tom began to feel strangely possessive about all the information he had about her, it didn't even seem like a good idea to share with Abraxas how he'd met Ginny. "Burke hired her to attract more customers or something like that, I think she will not stay for long, eventually his wife will find out... or she will just go away."

Malfoy started laughing. One of the witches he worked with was a friend of a friend of Mrs Burke and kept the room abreast on the latest stories involving the woman, who harnessed an explosive personality and temper, alas it was not daunting enough to keep her husband under control. "Well, if I had to guess I would say she was a Weasley."

"I also thought that!" Tom said, amused, raising his cup to his lips. "But though they were many, I think we should remember seeing her at Hogwarts, don't you think? But she also said she didn't attend to Hogwarts"

"I suppose so. Anyway, will she go with you to my Christmas dinner?" Abraxas asked, raising an eyebrow, a lurid smile lingering on his features. "Keep you company until lunch the next day?"

Tom looked at Abraxas frowning, processing what the other wizard was saying. "I'm not sleeping with her, Abraxas." he hissed.

Abraxas looked genuinely surprised, and a little shocked by Tom to be sharing a house with someone with Ginny's looks, who had left such an impression on him, and not be doing anything. "Odd." concluded Abraxas, making Tom roll his eyes. "Why?"

Tom raised his eyebrows and looked at Abraxas for a moment. "It's none of your business!"

"What!? Come on! What's going on between you two? Please tell me it's nothing so that I can invite her for dinner!" Malfoy blurted.

"Nothing is going on Malfoy; I'm just trying to keep a professional environment with her." Tom answered, completely in vain.

"Really?" Malfoy insisted

"Yes, Abraxas, really!" Tom stopped for a moment and looked at the floor, thinking. "Also, it doesn't feel quite right thinking about that, with her."

Malfoy frowned, looking at him curious, vaguely surprised for him to actually share something private. "Well, if you don't find her attractive, it's your bad. I'm inviting her to dinner, what do you think?"

Tom wanted to say that he would not allow him, that he didn't want him near her, that he would kill him if he laid a finger on her skin. "I don't really care."

"Alright then, well, anyway, I will be waiting for you at the manor around nine in the morning, I made arrangements with some of our friends and we're going to meet them on a new site in Oxford for brunch…"

Once they finished their plans to the weekend, Tom realised he was a few minutes late to open the store, hoping that Burke would have taken care of that by now. When he exited the fireplace of Borgin & Burke's kitchen, he found the division empty. There were dishes to wash in the sink, and Burke was no longer sleeping in the chair he had been sitting that morning, has he expected, so he started to walk downstairs.

"Mr Borgin, you're being extremely inappropriate!" Those words were the first thing he heard when he entered the store, followed by a laugh from Burke. Looking around, he could see the top of Ginny's red hair over a shelf. "If you don't leave me alone, I will be forced to defend myself!"

"I don't understand why I'm being inappropriate after I did you the favour of accepting you as my employee. I don't believe this is unreasonable of me at all," Burke replied, his voice husky with drink and anticipation. Tom wasn't sure if he should go to her side, or if he should head back up the stairs and wait for the result that would undoubtedly end with Ginny leaving the store, and end all his problems. But before he could decide, Ginny met his gaze, surprised to see him there, and made the decision for him.

"It is unreasonable because I'm in a relationship with Tom." She said turning her attention to Burke.

The wizard suddenly stopped smirking, and when Ginny looked at Tom, he looked at her incredulously, like he couldn't believe she had just dragged him into that mess, and in such a dramatically way.

Suddenly the store environment changed and an atmosphere of embarrassment and fury settled in: Ginny lowered the wand she had been holding at her side and Borgin lost interest in touching Ginny's skirt, the action that started all the trouble and led him to insinuate that he wanted more than to just touch her leg. He was not counting on what Ginny had just said, and he didn't want to risk offending the best employee that Borgin & Burkes had had since they opened the store.

Tom Riddle's help was synonymous with money, and if he went away, Borgin would kill him.

Tom, who had begun to slowly walk toward Ginny and Borgin, bypassing the shelves and showcases in order to take as much time as possible to reach the back of the store, didn't feel prepared for the role he would play when he reached them. He had only slept a couple of hours that night, Abraxas's news from the Ministry had left him a bit grumpy and now he had this mess on his hands, courtesy of his unruly assistant.

Meanwhile Ginny, still trying to balance herself on the stairs and stay away from Borgin, was blushing as she had not blushed since the first year at Hogwarts and the infamous Valentine's Day incident. She had just inadvertently placed herself in a relationship with Tom Riddle in the eyes of Burke, and probably of all with whom he would speak about it, she didn't even know who those people could be! On one hand, she did not feel much safer in a pseudo-relationship with Tom, than within Burke's clutches, but on the other hand what if this would compromise something in the future?

Ginny immediately began to think about the photograph that Borgin had been looking at with Kevedo, how Tom was accompanied by a girl... and Ginny suddenly felt paralysed. Was is it her?

Was she the girl in that photograph? It couldn't be her, it had to be someone else.

"Are you alright?" Ginny almost fell down the ladder when Tom's careful words broke the reverie she had been under.

Borgin was still holding the hem of her skirt when she started to get down the steps, almost failing one in the middle of a sudden nervous outbreak. When both feet settled on the ground, Tom pulled her against him, and they both looked at Burke. Ginny was still half lost in her thoughts, part of her attention focused on that morning where she heard the story from Borgin, and the other dimly focused on Tom's hand, pressed against her waist.

Ginny took a deep breath and focused on the present, she moved even closer to Tom, resting her head on his shoulder, put an arm around him and rested her hand on his chest, letting her fingers dive inside his vest, casually holding the black fabric.

"Yes, everything is alright Riddle." Borgin said, clearing his throat before exiting the store. Ginny took a deep breath and turned away from Tom, standing before him so she could look into his eyes, which were frustratingly blank.

Taking a deep breath, Ginny grabbed him by the lapels of his coat and began to shake him. "What the hell is wrong with that man!? Why did he do that?!"

Tom carefully detached her hands from his coat, holding them in his loosely, a cruel smile on his lips. "Ginevra, the question is not why did he do it, but why he hadn't done it sooner." Ginny raised her eyebrows, remembering that she had realised the fact that Burke would hire her for her looks, to get this job. "Thanks for your help, Tom." She said bitterly, but Tom was already walking back to the front of the store.

It was with some trepidation that Ginny received what Tom told her, that he would be away for the weekend. After what happened with Burke, she didn't particularly like the idea of being alone in the store.

It was true that she had spent the last weekends alone because Tom preferred to isolate himself in the attic and she had barely seen him outside the work hours. But that didn't stop her from feeling that way. She also doubted that Burke would approach her, now that he believed she was in a relationship with Tom.

Next day Ginny heard movements in the kitchen, and when she entered the room, hoping to find Burke doing something, she meets a man with brown hair elegantly slicked back, opening and closing the kitchen cabinets. Sitting at the table was an extraordinarily pregnant woman reading the newspaper and absentmindedly rubbing her swollen stomach. "Good morning." Ginny said, hoping to cause a good impression with who she assumed were the Borgins.

Mr Borgin stopped what he was doing and looked at her with piercing green eyes, transpiring authority and an attitude of whom was used to having what he wanted. He looked her up and down and turned his attention to the cabinets muttering something about Burke being an ass and ignored her. Mrs Borgin looked at Ginny over her newspaper displeased with what she was seeing, and with a click of her tongue she folded the newspaper and pressed it against her stomach. "You are the one called Ginevra, am I correct?"

Ginny raised one eyebrow, the tone revealing that the witch was starting a conversation that Ginny would not like to have.

"Yes." She answered politely.

"Well, Ginevra what? Or your parents did not give you any more names?" Ginny smiled at the other witch, an attitude that seemed to annoy her.

"Only Ginevra." She said, sitting down slowly in the chair closest to her and taking an apple from the fruit basket.

"Only Ginevra? So what is the "only Ginevra", doing at the moment? Let me guess! It's certainly not travelling in Germany to meet customers!" She said sarcastically, referring to the objectives that the store had with the advertisement for a new employee.

"No, I've been cleaning and re-arranging the showcases." Said Ginny starting to eat the apple, not looking particularly interested. After all, it was not her fault that Burke had hired her, and she was not going to let whatever Mrs Borgin was about to say affect her in any way.

"Cleaning." Mrs Borgin gasped "Cleaning? That's what we send out our elf four times a week to do! He can handle it! I can see what happened here! Unbelievable! That partner of yours is absolutely unbelievable!" She said turning to her husband.

Borgin turned back and shrugged. "Apparently, his plan did not go well." He jerked his head towards Ginny. "She's dating Riddle."

'Rude!' Ginny thought, seeing how easily Borgin ignored that she was less than two meters from him, and kind of scared about how that story travelled so quickly.

"That's a relief, anyhow!" The witch took a deep breath and rubbed her stomach. "I do not know if his poor wife could endure another affair! I hope that at least he has the barest trace of decency and stays away from her. I doubt that Mr Riddle would accept to continue to work here if he did such a thing... but even so, it is quite improper that you're living here." She said returning her attention to Ginny. "When are you thinking about finding your own place?"

Ginny looked at her uncomfortable with the suggestion, especially when there was nothing going on between her and Tom. "My own house? I do not know if I will work here long enough to need my own house, Mrs Borgin." said Ginny, finishing eating.

"I hope not! You can go downstairs and start your cleanings, we will be down soon." Ginny stood up slowly and started to exit the room. When she was leaving, an owl began to knock on the window, but Ginny was already downstairs when Borgin let it in.

Ginny was determined to have a good and pleasant day, even if the Borgins decided to try to force the contrary, Ginny would organize the most distant shelves from the front of the store, as far away from them as possible, and when it was time for lunch, she would go to the Cauldron to eat and then pass the rest of the afternoon at the Flourish & Blots reading. Perhaps dine again in the Cauldron, and then she would draft a letter to Dumbledore, asking how her pocket watch was doing.

She was standing in the warehouse, putting the leather gloves on when Borgin jumped the last few steps of the stairs, Ginny stepped backwards until her back hit the nearest wall. "Help my wife down!" He said running to unlock the door as he sent a spell against the fireplace making fire explode over the previous wood and new trunks floated to feed new flames.

"What's going on Mr Borgin?" Ginny asked taking the gloves off and leaning over the counter, had Tom done something?

"The Grimmts were arrested," Borgin said crossing the store, bypassing the counter and disappearing inside the warehouse. "Who?" Ginny asked loudly, to be heard inside.

Borgin suddenly appeared in the doorway, frowning and quite angry. "The Grimmts! One of those families who managed to withdraw from Grindelwald circles before he was arrested, but were accused of being among the main supporters of it anyway!" He said looking at her as if she was stupid. "The Ministry decided to review some of the cases around some families after they arrested Grindelwald and found parts that were not conducted according to the law. Tonight they sent an Auror squad to their home and apparently found a secret room full of correspondence with Grindelwald, pictures, books with his manifesto and a number of highly illegal objects." Burkes breathed deeply. "The Grimmts were the first, the Aurors should be starting to visit other wizards very soon, and that means that a lot of them will want to get rid of their most incriminating possessions before they arrive, they will sell everything for a third of the value!"

They heard Burke laughing from the stairs. "My little birds never fail me, Borgin!" He shouted from inside the stairwell. "I can smell the galleons we're going to make today!" The wizard emerged from the stairs, holding Mrs Borgin, who was smiling from ear-to-ear.

Ginny put the gloves on a shelf inside the counter, and at that moment the first customer came out of the fire, then another, and then another one. Suddenly Ginny found herself going up and down the stairs to the kitchen to prepare tea for the customers who were waiting to be served. Borgin and Burkes were working has fast has possible, buying most of the things that were brought to them, sending others to more specialized stores in the alley, no one left the store unsatisfied.

Ginny wondered if this had been the store's environment after the two deaths of Lord Voldemort.

The sun was already gone when they were able to close up the store.

Mrs. Borgin had given up shortly after lunch, her huge stomach requiring the body to rest even if the mind was not tired, and Ginny had replaced her, recording the new items under the guidance of the two wizards.

Ginny felt completely exhausted by the end of the day, disappointed that her plans for a comfortable afternoon at the Flourish & Blots had been ruined, and all she only had to show for it was some back pain. She practically crawled to her room and decided that at least she was going to eat out for dinner. Ginny was only a few pages away from finishing Frankenstein and it would make the perfect company for the meal.

The Borgins were sitting in the kitchen, a house-elf busy making dinner for his masters, and they ignored her when she passed by the table to enter the fireplace.

When Ginny emerged on the Cauldron, and entered the dining room, a large group was occupying a table and to her surprise, Tom sat at the head of it. It was a peculiar group, with wizards and witches of all ages and some with a questionable look. Malfoy was the first that noticed Ginny and got up from the table to go to her, calling Tom's attention to her presence. Abraxas put his arm around her and pulled her until they were next to Tom, who smiled at her. "Ginevra, I heard that you had quite a busy day in the store."

"A little, we just closed. You missed all the fun!" said Ginny smiling back while wrenching her grip free from Malfoy, crossing her arms over her chest and carefully observing the wizards sitting around the table. "Everything went well, but I'm completely exhausted!" She turned her attention back to Tom.

"I'm sorry to hear that. Let me introduce you to my friends." Tom said smoothly, rising from his chair and pulling her hand to rest in the crook of his arm.

As they walked around the table, and Tom introduced her to all those wizards and witches, Ginny felt increasingly tense and nervous.

She recognized some of the names, knew who they were, some who should be their age and had been Tom's schoolmates at Hogwarts, were in Azkaban since he killed Harry's parents, or their children were. Ginny realized with ice running through her blood, that she was being introduced to the first Death Eaters.

"Are you feeling alright?" Tom asked, watching her grow progressively paler. "Maybe it's better if you sit down." He said holding her tightly to make sure she wasn't going to pass out on him.

"Ginevra, do you want to have dinner with us?" Abraxas asked as he approached them.

"You can call me Ginny," she said, flashing him an insincere smile, "and I cannot accept the invitation... I don't know what's going on, I must be more tired than I was thinking." Ginny said putting her hand to her face, trying to be friendly, and ignoring what was going on in front of her. "I think I'll take the food with me and eat at the store."

"Are you sure? You can sit down here with me and Tom, I'll get you a chair." Malfoy turned on his heels to try to find an employee. Ginny put her hand on his arm to stop him. "No seriously, it's better if I go to the store." Ginny said goodbye to everyone but Malfoy gallantly insisted on going with her to help her search for a waiter to order dinner.

Tom informed her that he was going to return on the next day after dinner and turned his attention to the wizard who now Ginny knew was Goyle's grandfather, Draco's former bodyguard.

Ginny and Abraxas found a waiter and sat on the high stools by the counter, Abraxas asked for a firewhisky and watched Ginny over the rim of the glass. "So, Ginny, how is it to work at the Borgin & Burkes?" He asked, placing the glass on the counter.

"Until today, it has been pretty calm." Ginny said straightening on her bench to get away from Malfoy, who had a leg too close to hers. Ginny wanted to be friendly, but did not want to be friendly to the point where he would think it was okay to touch her, especially since she continued to be sure that the slightest touch from him would give her some horrible disease that would condemn her to live forever as an outcast from society.

"Oh yes, I heard about what happened to the Grimmts. A pity. Felix, the eldest son, and our friend." Abraxas pointed in Tom's direction with his glass. "Spent the day at the Ministry trying to figure out what happened and trying to get his parents' home before the night fall, but unfortunately they are still in Azkaban. They say the Aurors are still working, but we don't know yet if they arrested any other wizards."

"Surely we shall know soon enough." Ginny said, not feeling particularly sad by the Ministry to lock down that kind of wizards. Ginny had a vague idea that Abraxas had died by the time of the last war, but she didn't remember at all if he had lived long enough to see his home and son subjected to the same things the Grimmts were, she was sure he wouldn't be indifferent to _that_.

Abraxas finished his drink and ordered another glass. "Are you going to visit your family this Christmas?"

Ginny looked at him in silence. She would certainly spend Christmas with her family, if Abraxas knew how to work miracles. "I don't know. Why?"

"My family always organizes a dinner party on the 24th, Tom has been coming for years, and since you live with him, I thought you would like to make him company..." He murmured, hiding a smirk behind his glass.

Ginny looked at him, half-incredulous. It seemed that today everyone had taken their time to say the most ridiculous things to her. "Are you trying to ask if I'm in some kind of relationship with your friend that's less than professional?" She asked amused.

Abraxas lowered the glass. "Are you?" He asked raising an eyebrow. "He told me he wasn't, but now that I actually had a chance to have a g..." Abraxas cleared his throat. "I'm a little hesitant as to whether if he was telling the truth."

Ginny couldn't help but start laughing. She was surprised, Draco was an annoying idiot, Lucius was absolutely despicable, but Abraxas Malfoy? Ginny did not know what to think, but it explained a lot. "Then I can tell you Abraxas, it's true." Malfoy looked at her with raised eyebrows, and placed his glass down on the counter. "Really?" He asked leaning closer to her.

"Yes!" Ginny laughed again. "We had a fantastic romance for about two minutes in that day when you came by to take him for lunch." Abraxas rolled his eyes and looked at her sceptically. "Our boss was being kind of nasty and Tom arrived at the right time to save him from being hexed."

Abraxas finished the rest of the contents of the glass and asked for a re-fill. Ginny looked at the clock on the wall behind the counter, hoping they would bring her food fast because she was beginning to worry about the amount of firewhisky Malfoy was having.

"I see." He said sipping on the new glass. "But what about Christmas? The invitation still stands; you will be more than welcome." He said with a wink.

Ginny's dinner arrived at that moment and she got up from the bench and away from Malfoy, without giving him an answer.

"I will see you another day, Abraxas."

"I will include you on the guest list anyway, Ginny." Abraxas raised his glass and got up as well, beginning to walk back to his table, calling after her. "See you at Christmas."

Ginny gave a deep breath, and behind Abraxas she noticed Tom looking at her and Ginny waved, before taking a handful of Floo powder and disappearing into the green flames.

The next day, when she entered the kitchen to make breakfast, she found the Borgins at the table. They were nicer to her, probably enjoying the help she had given them the day before that had made her somehow look less useless in their eyes.

Their elf prepared her breakfast and they discussed the day before, letting them know they were going to have to revise the inventory during that day, to make sure everything was in order and organized to open the store the next day, because they expected again to have more customers than usual.

During the lunch hour, a customer arrived to eat with them, he was an important wizard with a good amount of items to sell. Ginny quickly realized that this was the wizard who kept a collection of Grindelwald personal items that Borgin had talked about several days ago, and as he was speaking, Ginny realized it was not a small collection with a few dozen objects, but that he had rented a house for the dark wizard and after his arrest he had kept everything, from his books to his hairbrush.

His interest in selling, was tied to the fact that the house was a secondary residence and the Aurors had recently found out about it.

Ms. Borgin asked Ginny to help her down the stairs to help her finish the store's inventory review, and let the other two wizards establish the terms of the deal. The witch didn't talk to Ginny more than necessary, continuing to look at her with some discontentment, but apart from that, she had made no unpleasant remarks about her being there.

Overall, the day went very well, and as it should be expected, it was not that way it ends. When Ginny finished helping Mrs. Borgin up the narrow stairs to the first floor and sit at the kitchen's table, the house elf had just served a small snack, and Ginny had to sat near Burke, which also had arrived, summoned by Borgin to help him complete the deal.

There, Ginny was informed that the customer would have to stay in the store for several nights, that they didn't know which or how many, but that she would have to abdicate the guest room to him.

"But... But then where am I going to sleep?" She asked scared, regretting that question when she got her answer.

"Given that you keep a relationship with Riddle, you might as well sleep in his bed in the attic." Mr. Borgin said, and Ginny, appalled, was at a loss for words. "You will move tonight."

Burke stood up and touched her on the shoulder for her to follow him.

Ginny followed him to the door of the guest bedroom and he opened it, stopped in the center of the room and looked around.

Ginny walked to her wardrobe, she still had the silly paper bag where she had carried her clothes from the Cauldron to the store. She didn't want to share the same room with Tom Riddle, and now that she finally had money, she decided that it would be wise to rent a room on the Cauldron until she could find a room or small apartment on the Diagon Alley.

She was preparing to open her wardrobe's door and begin to empty its contents with a spell when Borgin suddenly pinned her against it, his hands beside her head and leaning down so that he could look her in the eyes. "I couldn't help but notice that you don't seem to like the idea of staying in the attic with Mr. Riddle, which I find strange." He said with a smile straightening a little, but didn't take his hands off the closet, keeping Ginny stuck in the same place. "Are you sure that Riddle and you aren't just friends?"

Ginny put her hands on Burke's chest and pushed him forcefully away, "You're being inappropriate again, Mr. Burkin." Ginny said stiffly, gritting her teeth, as she reached for her wand on the back of her skirt.

"Inappropriate? I just want to enjoy my investment." Burke turned, approaching Ginny, but this time she did not move, she would put Burke in his place, even if it cost her the job and she had to join the Death Eaters to be able to keep an eye on Tom.

"I do not mind investing a little more to rent you a stylish place with a good view over London." Burke put his hands in his pockets and turned aside, watching over his shoulder to the bed Ginny had left undone that morning. "But perhaps I was mistaken about my impression, about you and Riddle, but I don't recommend that you stay anywhere else but the attic." Burke turned back to Ginny, an evil smile in his lips, raising his hand to touch her face, but before he did, Borgin called him from the kitchen.

Burke turned away from Ginny and left the room, looking at her with a smirk before closing the door behind him.

Ginny gave a deep breath to calm herself down and hit her wand on the palm of the other hand, making a stream of sparks come out of the tip. He was lucky Borgin had called him when he did, or else they'd have been picking up pieces of him off the floor when she was done with him. How dare he? Who did he think he was?

Ginny opened the wardrobe and took the paper bag that she had folded and store of the bottom, placing it on the floor. She tapped her wand on the clothes and they started to fly to the bag, disappearing on the inside, and she repeated the spell on the rest of her things.

A knock on the door caught her attention and she walked across the room opening the door with a jerk, making Mrs. Borgin jump with the sudden movement and rest a hand over her heart. "Oh... I'm sorry!" Said Ginny moving away from the door to let the pregnant witch, who was definitely not Burke, walk in.

"Burke told us you accepted to move in to the attic, because that's what you two were planning to do anyway." Mrs. Borgin said with an affable smile.

Ginny looked at her confused, the movement behind her stopped, which meant that the spell was over and the clothes were inside the bag and ready to be transported to the Cauldron.

"What?"

"You and Tom!" She said with a smile. "In a way I'm glad, he spends too much time alone in that attic, with his nose always stuck in those horrible books." Borgin walked around Ginny, grabbed her bag from the floor and returned to her side, putting an arm on her back to encourage her to walk. "Can you believe I once caught him reading about Inferis?"

"Oh... but I was plan-" The other witch didn't let her finish and instead took her hand and placed it on her enormous belly. Ginny took a deep breath when she felt the baby kick inside, completely disarmed with the moment Mrs. Borgin had decided to share with her.

"But as I was saying!" She continued after releasing Ginny's hand. "It's not natural for someone so young to spend so much time studying..."

Among complaints about Tom's lifestyle and stops to feel the baby kicking, Ginny decided she would never have children, it was obvious that Mrs. Borgin suffered from some severe hormonal fluctuations, because it wasn't normal that she had so abruptly stopped despising her.

Ginny was sure she would never be able to handle that kind of stuff.

They stopped at the top of the stairs, with the witch trying to open the attic door and complaining about the absurd spells Tom had used to lock the room. She was quite offended by the time she took a bunch of keys from her pocket and opened the door, complaining about his distrust, did he thought this was a house of thieves or something?

Ginny followed the witch into the attic, the night was clear and the moonlight streaming through the window created a vague colourful reflection on the floor. The room was impeccably tidy, it no longer had any trace of the explosion that had awakened her a few nights ago and Tom probably had gotten what he wanted, because a cauldron full of a silver potion bubbled gently on the desk.

Mrs. Burkes put the bag on Tom's bed and went back to Ginny, took her by the hand, leaning on her arm as they walked down the stairs. The rest of the evening ran smoothly, the house-elf got the guest room ready for its new occupant, made dinner that Ginny could not eat very well, and eventually Mrs. Borgin announced that she was very tired, which put an end to the night.

The Borgins decided to go home, Burkin invited the client to accompany him so that he could show him the guest room where he could stay whenever necessary until they completed the deal, and Ginny climbed the stairs resigned, not wanting to be in the kitchen when Borgin returned, and let him start his handsy nonsense all over again.

Morbid thoughts followed Ginny as she climbed the stairs to the attic that Mrs. Borgin had left open. The weather had changed and there was no light coming through the round stained glass window, leaving the interior dark and the door looking like a big open mouth, waiting to devour her.

Ginny entered the room and left the door open, walked across the floor and held her paper bag, which contained all her worldly belongings. She looked down the window and tried to think of what would happen if she decided to jump, and took a deep breath. She would probably break both her legs, which would greatly help Tom's life, because she would not be able to run when he decided to kill her after he found out what was going on, and that Mrs. Burke had been able to break his spell with a simple master key.

Turning away from the window, Ginny looked back to the room. She crossed the distance that separated her from the couch and heavily plopped down on the cushions, tightly holding the bag to her chest. She looked at the cauldron on the desk, and let herself get lost in the sounds of the potion slowly boiling in the inside.

Ginny would rather get out of there as soon as possible, Burke's threats did not frighten her and her did not care to let the expectations of Mrs. Borgin fall in relation to changing Tom Riddle's lifestyle, but she decided to wait for Tom, she knew he was not particularly fan of surprises, and would probably prefer that she was the one to announce it to him, that everyone in the store had taken seriously the micro-romance they pretended to have to dodge Burke, and that there was now another layer to the lie.

Hours went by until she heard Tom's footsteps in the hall. Ginny stood up and waited for him at the door, but Tom only realized that Ginny was there when he almost collided with her. "What..." Tom looked at her alarmed, then noticed the open door behind her. "How?" He asked frowning and looking at her suspiciously.

"Oh... it's a funny story..." Ginny said, grinning. "You're going to love it."

Tom put his suitcase on the foot of his desk and took off his cloak, resting against the wood while crossing his arms over his chest, and impatiently asking Ginny to start at the part of how she had gotten into the attic.

Ginny walked anxiously in front of him, as she told him what had happened during the day, still holding her paper bag to her chest, it didn't take long, but when she finished and looked at Tom, she was surprised to see him with a worried look, precisely the opposite of what she expected.

"What is it?" She muttered, starting to get worried about his reaction because she expected to see him angry or annoyed, not this.

"The other day, when you asked me if we used violence, I admit that I was not honest with you." Ginny waited, preparing for what Tom was going to say next. "Both the Borgin and I do not approve, but when sometimes things do not go as we want, Burke usually brings his Lethifold out to play." Ginny gasped loudly.

"What? He has one of those things?" She asked with a lump in her throat, mentally reviewing what she had learned about that Dementor's "cousin" that lived in the tropics.

"Yes, he has." Tom rubbed the bridge of his nose and sighed. "So, I do not think it is a good idea to try to go and upset him. I'm not sure, but I would bet a good few galleons that he would not hesitate to make you disappear just because you have refused the attention he wants. It wouldn't be the first time."

Ginny leaned forward, letting her head fall on to her knees. "But I don't want to do this." She said in a hushed tone against her legs.

"Don't worry, I don't really mind if you sleep on my couch." Tom lowered himself in front of her, trying to see her face, with little results. "After the New Year we break up, say that we we're not ready to share the same room and you can go look for a place to live in the Diagon Alley, without running the risk of being devoured by a Lethifold in the middle of the night."

"It seems like a good plan." Ginny said, looking up. "A month is nothing." Tom got up and walked away, giving her room to pull her legs up and lie down on the small sofa, her back to him, facing the cushion. "I owe you one, Tom." She said before putting the bag over her head upright and crossing her arms over her chest, pulling her knees up higher.

"I'll let you know how you can repay me." He said as he leaned over the cauldron to observe the potion.

"Awesome..." she mumbled.

Tom took off his coat and vest, putting them in the back of the chair and looked at Ginny, who was still looking completely ridiculous balancing the paper bag over her head.

It would be a very long month, and with what was going on in the Ministry, it would also be very busy. Putting the suitcase on his desk, Tom took the new book he had bought to read after dinner and charmed the rest of the contents and the suitcase to find their places. With a sigh, Tom started to close the curtains, dividing the two areas of the room and took one last look at Ginny before letting the fabric fall.

* * *

The sound of someone loudly banging on the door woke the two. Tom looked around him, it was still night and too early to start working. "What is it?" He heard Ginny talk on the other side of the room, hidden by the curtains, but he couldn't understand what the other voice was saying. "What do you mean?" Tom got out of bed, pulling the sweater he used to sleep forward by the collar and crossed the curtains, pulling its long sleeves to his elbows. "What happened, Ginevra?" He asked rubbing his face and blinking his eyes to try and focus on the wizard holding the wand with an active Lumos spell, stronger than necessary, behind Ginny.

"There are Aurors on the door." She said looking at him over her shoulder, confusion written on her face.

Tom looked from Ginny to the wizard who had occupied the guest room, and passed between them.

"It's best if you stay here." Ginny said to the wizard before following in Tom's footsteps to the ground floor.

When she caught him he had opened the door and was talking to one of the four Aurors, the one that looked like he was commanding the mission, with an authoritarian and assertive voice.

"As I said, without a search warrant written by the judge I cannot let you enter the store at this time of night." Tom said, starting to get annoyed and letting it show in the ice in his voice. "It is 4 in the morning, Mr. Borgin and Mr. Burke are not in the store and only they can decide to cooperate with you, I can't do anything, I cannot make a decision that may ultimately put my job in jeopardy. If you want to search this store without the presence of any of the owners, you will have to bring me a court order."

"We know you started to receive illegal products since Grimmts was arrested!" Growled the Auror, pointing his wand at Tom threateningly.

"Nothing in this shop is illegal, all our transactions are under the law," Tom responded coolly. "all our businesses are legitimate. The same parameters established in the last inspection of the Ministry, remain, nothing has changed. This is insulting."

"Everyone knows that Borgin & Burkes..."

"Borgin & Burkes act in accordance to the law, apparently the same law that the Aurors believe to be above of by coming here in such a late hour and try force search this establishment without having all the documents they need to do so. If you need something else, we open at 9am." Tom closed the door and turned his back to the four angry looking wizards outside.

"What was that?" Ginny asked, following Tom back to the attic, standing behind him on the stairs. The other wizard had sat on the last step while waiting for the two to return. "They wanted to search the store. It's something they like to do from time to time." answered Tom.

"I thought they had come looking for me." Said the other wizard stepping down the stairs. "I almost had a heart attack!"

"They may have been, they never exactly said what they wanted." Tom climbed the last steps and held the door, waiting for Ginny to pass. "Let's see what happens tomorrow morning, but I recommend that you will be ready to leave at any given moment." The wizard, looking paler than the night before, nodded and disappeared in the hallway.

Ginny sat on the couch and looked at Tom, that rested against the door. "I guess I'm not sleepy anymore." He said looking up from the ground to look at her. "If you want, you can sleep in my bed until it's time to get up. The sofa is a little small, and tomorrow you won't be able to help me if your back hurts." Tom crossed the room to his closet and took some clothes off, then disappearing into the bathroom.

Ginny got up from the couch, not really feeling like he was giving a choice, she accepted, he probably wanted to work in the potion still bubbling in the cauldron on his desk or something, so she decided to cooperate and disappeared into the curtains and lay down, pulling the covers above her head.

The sheets had his smell, it was still the same as she remembered, and she took a deep breath. After a moment she was fast asleep, lulled by the sound of water running in the background.

"Ginevra!" Someone was shaking her shoulder to make her wake up, but Ginny was not feeling particularly willing to leave the comfort of the bed, it smelled good and familiar, and she was relaxed and comfortable.

He was going to have to pull her by the feet or pour a bucket of water on her to make her get up. "Ginevra!" The same voice insisted, making Ginny turn, facing the celling. "Let me sleep Harry, what are you doing awake?" She grumbles, stretching her arms upward to find the person who was upsetting her and then rising from the bed to embrace him, pulling him down tightly.

"What the hell, Ginevra! Let me go!" Tom tried to free himself from Ginny's arms, who had made him sit on the edge of the bed and pulled his face to the curve of her neck in an attempt to silence the Harry she was mistaking him with.

Tom had tried to wake her, because it was actually time to get up, and he also wanted to show her what was happening on the street, the Aurors, as they had not been able to get into the Borgin & Burges appeared to have followed for the next store on their list, and had managed to take advantage of the time remaining until sunrise to search the other store. The owner was yelling at one of the Aurors, while the others put box after box on the street and it thought it was quite funny.

However, he couldn't deny that what was happening wasn't good, and how vulnerable she was right now, even if it was he who was trapped in her arms.

Tom was not a wizard to waste an opportunity, and the fact that she was asleep, was the perfect time for him to use a little Legilimency without getting caught. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, letting the tendrils of his mind touch hers.

The first thing he saw was a wizard with hair as red as Ginny sitting in a kitchen, but her attention was focused on the man he spoke with, he was about their age, short hair and as black as his but quite messy, he had green eyes and wore round glasses, an easy smile framed his lips. He guessed this should be Harry.

Ginny started walking up the stairs, the house appeared to have several floors, and a small eternity passed before she reached her destination, Tom noticed that with each step they climbed she was becoming increasingly smaller and younger.

When he entered what Tom assumed to be her room, Ginny had clearly receded to a memory of when she was younger. Ginny almost ran to the desk and picked up a black notebook that looked like his diary and sat on the window seat, opening it and beginning to write with a smile.

Tom was about to step closer, feeling that this notebook was more than similar to his than she had told him, but he got distracted when she started to caress the back of his head, braking the spell.

Not knowing what to think and deciding to leave it for later, Tom decided that enough was enough. He hold her arms and forced her to open them so that he could rose, and opting to give up on waking her up and just exit the attic. Before he got up, he looked back at her, noticing how her long red haired was spilled on his pillow and how it framed her pale face, she didn't even move when he rose, still deep asleep, her lips slightly open.

She looked like she belonged there on his bed, she looked inviting. He touched her face with the back of his finger in a curious, almost detached kind of way. Just as his finger had settled upon the arch of her cheek, she exhaled softly, her breath unsettling a lock of his hair. His pupils suddenly dilated in response to her warm, heady scent like a shark tasting blood, and he was seized by a furious, feverish urge to press his lips upon her open mouth, to consume, to steal the very breath she had breathed.

He shivered suddenly, unsettled by the forcefulness of what he had just felt. With trembling fingers, he gingerly pulled himself away and walked into the kitchen, away from the room, away from his dangerous thoughts, away from her.

* * *

He was reading the newspaper when Ginny walked into the kitchen. "So, is my bed better than the couch?" He asked without looking up.

Ginny sat down beside him and pulled the teapot pouring herself a mug. "Much." She said dryly.

"Are you alright?" He slightly lowered the paper and looked at her. "Are you sure you slept well?"

"Yes, everything is fine." Ginny rubbed her eyes and groaned. "I dreamt about my family..."

"Well, I'm sure that you're going to see them again shortly." Tom returned to his newspaper, actually feeling relieved that she didn't remember what had happened between them a couple of hours before.

He passed that time thinking about what he had seen on her mind, Ginny writing in a notebook that looked so much like his Horcrux. He had not forgotten what she'd said that other night, about having a similar notebook when she was younger, and what the Horcrux had said about her knowing what it was. It really seemed too familiar.

Regardless, it was an old memory, that he had seen through her eyes, it could just be a memory mixed with something else.

"I hope so." Ginny said with a sigh, slowly slipping down the chair. Then she straightened up and let her head rest on Tom's arm, and sighed again. "You're my only friend for now."

Tom looked at Ginny amused and surprised by her action. "I'm awfully sorry for that."

Ginny couldn't contain a laugh and straightened up. "I'll wait for you in the store." She said getting up and out of the kitchen towards the stairs.

The day passed quickly, Ginny was put in charge of processing the orders that arrived that morning, few, because of what was happening in the Ministry had scared the wizards who often did business with the Borgin & Burkes, and then helping Tom.

Tom kept busy with a steady stream of customers, not as many as in the weekend when Ginny had been alone with the Burkes and Borgin. The customers were bringing in more and more rumours about wizards being investigated, not just those who had had some connection to Grindelwald, it looks like they only needed to have been sympathizers with his cause.

Ginny dropped into one of the armchairs in front of the fireplace turning her right wrist, to ward off the discomfort left by a day spent writing. "I'm too tired to cook today, I'm going to get something from the Cauldron, do you want me to bring anything for you?"

"You can bring the same you're going to have." Tom said, rising from the armchair and reaching out to Ginny, who accepted the help to get up without thinking a second time. He felt relieved for some reason, that she no longer felt uncomfortable touching him.

Ginny disappeared up the stairs toward the kitchen to use the fireplace and Tom followed her soon after, to the attic. He took off his coat and put it in the back of the chair in front of his desk in the attic, opened his book and looked into the cauldron, making some notes on the potion that was still bubbling inside. Then he got up and took some other volumes from the bookcase, along with a file of loose papers, and returned to the desk, ignoring his surroundings while re-reading his notes.

Tom was startled when a plate suddenly appeared in his field of vision as Ginny placed the plate on top of the papers and smiled. "All set, Mr. Riddle."

"I could easily get used to this." He said putting away the book he was reading.

"Well, you could, but you won't." Ginny said, slowly sitting on the couch, careful not to drop her food. "What are you reading?" She asked, starting to eat.

"Quite boring things, you don't want to know..." he answered avoiding her question without looking up from his plate.

"Right..." Ginny rolled her eyes. "You really don't mind if I stay here?"

"Hmm?" Tom was distractedly chewing as he read.

"I asked if... never mind." Ginny observed him, despite him being there with her, his mind was obviously elsewhere, he made her think about Hermione.

She sighed at the thought of her friend, and thought about what her family was doing at her time. To think that they could be desperately looking for her broke her heart, but there was no way of knowing what was happening in the future.

Again focusing her attention on Tom, he would probably like to talk with Hermione if he could ignore the fact that she was the daughter of Muggles, of course, but her friend was the best student Hogwarts had since Tom had finished school, they certainly had a lot to talk about.

When he finished eating, she got up and headed to Tom's desk, picking up his dish that was balancing on the edge of some books and placed it over her own, she went to the kitchen and washed the dishes.

Burke was sitting at the table with the wizard who had occupied her room, but apart from a brief greeting, they didn't exchange a word.

Ginny made tea, taking the two mugs to the attic, leaving one at Tom's seat, who absentmindedly muttered a thank you and put hers on the floor beside the couch.

She crossed the room and pulled a chair against an empty wall, transfiguring it into a small dresser, then proceeded to empty her paper bag on Tom's bed to short her clothes and store them in the new furniture. Opening the drawers to confirm that everything was in the right place, Ginny pulled out her clothes for the next day and decided she needed to shower. She left her clothes on the couch's arm, took her mug and closed the bathroom door, turning the key in the lock.

The room was bigger than the one that was adjacent to the guest room downstairs, but was not as elegantly decorated, it was in fact quite simple. Ginny pulled the grey curtain that was hiding the tub and turned on the hot water, dropping some bath salts to the bottom, she looked around for a place to put her towels, but the only one available was the small sink counter, and it had some of Tom's things on it.

Ginny moved the blade that he used to shave and his aftershave to the other side of the sink and put down her towels, then she couldn't resist but opening the small dark green glass bottle. It smelled good.

The tub was filled with water and Ginny slowly sat down, breathing hard when the almost boiling water surrounded her body. Small pieces of foam raised from the water and began to float around her, and Ginny almost felt at home while closing her eyes, sinking deeper into the tub. It was so comfortable…

The next thing she knew she found herself sitting in the tub, with Tom's hand resting on her back, choking on water. He patted her back to help her lungs to expel what was inside, and pulled a few strands of hair behind her ear, while watching her carefully.

"Ginevra, please try not to die in my bathtub." He said sarcastically, keeping a straight face as he stood up.

"What happened?" She managed to ask between coughs.

"I had a feeling you might've done something stupid."

"What?" She looked at him, confused.

"It's what I just said, you were in here for ages, I knocked on the door and you didn't answer, so I came in, sat you down and you started to cough out all the water you inhaled."

Ginny looked at him in horror, absorbing what he said, processing what is actions meant "I promise I will be more careful next time I take a bath." Ginny said hoarsely, holding the bathtub edges with trembling hands, feeling embarrassed and only wanting him to get out.

"I hope you do; I'm not feeling like researching what it means to have another wizard own you his life more than one time." He said, turning his back to her and walking off.

The door shut with a muffled sound behind Tom and Ginny took a deep breath.

She got up, shaking from being in the now freezing water, and wrapped herself in her towel holding to the cabinet, trying to calm down.

Tom Riddle had saved her life. She was indebted to Lord Voldemort. She was in debt over the stupidest thing ever.

Pulling her pants up her legs, and dressing the thick sweater she wore to sleep, Ginny opened the door to the other room. Tom had closed the curtains, dividing the attic in two areas, but raised the fabric for a moment to observe her, to make sure she was okay.

"Thanks." Ginny said.

"You are... welcome." Tom said letting the fabric fall.

Ginny walked to her couch where a thick dark green blanket waited for her, thanking the Universe for the fact that he was dead in the future.

* * *

Ginny groaned when Tom opened the curtains the next morning, leaving the light that lighted his side of the room enter hers, filling the division with colourful reflections. Tom put his hands on his hips and bent over her with a smile. "Good morning Ginevra, I am pleased to see that you also have survived the night."

"Tom, let me tell you that I consider all people who wake up in a good mood very creepy." Ginny mumbled groggily, rising from the couch, red hair pointing in all directions, looking at him with an eye half-closed and a frown.

"The day is too short for such things." Tom said, sitting on the couch, which forced her to draw up her legs, while he pulled his shoes, tying the laces with quick movements. "We have things to do, get up." Tom gave her a quick pat on the knee and rose, disappearing through the door.

The day may be in fact short to wake up slowly and properly, but it was why to long for a work day. The Ministry continued to review criminal processes, they said the Grindelwald itself was going to be judged again.

But more important than that, this was also the day that Ginny remembered again that she was in 1946.

They were a few minutes away from closing when a tall, thin wizard emerged from the fireplace. He was dressed in light colours and moved arrogantly, he had small blue eyes and a big nose, as if to make up for the difference.

"My client sent me to inquire whether this store would be interested in these objects." He said in a sharp tone approaching the counter, eventually putting a box on the top, not bothering to compliment them.

Tom left the warehouse, pulling down his sleeves and dressing back his coat, greeted the wizard and pulled the box to him.

Tom began removing the objects from inside the box: potions, smaller boxes, a notebook, among other things. Ginny looked at Tom, who watched every object with a raised eyebrow, impressed by what he was seeing.

"Who is your employer?" Tom asked, beginning to arrange the objects inside the box as he looked curious to the wizard.

"Madame Hepzibah Smith." He said with reverence. "And she would like that someone went to her estate, because she has some objects that she would like to have evaluated, which are too delicate to carry out outside the manor."

Ginny started to pull on her fingers, recognized the client's name, how could she not when she had spent a few fun minutes with Harry trying to pronounce her name properly, between kisses, when he was telling her about Tom Riddle's story.

There was no way she would ever forget it.

Hepzibah Smith owned Slytherin's locket, the locket that Tom would turn into a Horcrux with Smith's death, and it looked like it was going to happen soon.

Very soon.

* * *

 **A/N:** Kudos to my beta Sinsinnatus from Tumblr!


	5. Chapter 5

"Ginevra!?" Tom knocked on the bathroom door angrily. Didn't she know there were other people that needed to use that room? Had she forgotten she wasn't the only person in that attic? For Tom, ever since Ginny had gotten in there, she had taken so much time in the bathroom, it was like she had made her home in there. And he was getting late. He could still count on his hand how often he had been late to open the store and he intended to make sure he would keep it that way. "What the hell are you doing there? Please don't tell me you're sleeping in the bathtub again! I swear that this time, I'll let you drown!"

"What?" Ginny suddenly opened the door looking shocked and fully dressed, causing Tom to step back, startled by the sudden movement. "If I die, you will have no one to bring you tea in the evening. You're going to dehydrate and die, drowning inside that cauldron of yours, that you always have your head stuck in."

Tom looked at her, rolling his eyes, and took a deep breath, walking around her to get into the steamy bathroom. "If you think my desire to see you alive is proportional to my desire to drink tea, you'll have a rather unpleasant surprise, Ginevra."

"You sound like one of my brothers!" She warbled melodramatically, walking out of the bathroom to face him, "And I thought that living with you would be some kind of vacation... I don't think I have ever been so disappointed in anyone in my entire life."

"Well, I hope that one day you will be able to overcome your disappointment, as I hope one day to know these brothers of yours and know how they can make you leave the bathroom in the morning at a reasonable hour." He said closing the door with a slam. Ginny shook her head amused, listening to the muffled sound of the shower starting to run inside the small room.

She opened Tom's wardrobe and looked at herself in the mirror inside the door. She had managed to master her new clothes and although none of them were pants, except for those she used to sleep and had brought from the future, she was feeling more like herself.

That day she had a braid, which rested on her shoulder and went down to her chest over the high-necked blouse of a spruce blue, that in turn disappeared inside a black skirt that fell below her knees. Ginny sighed and closed the door. She looked like her grandmother. She decided to put the red shoes on, that laid along the other two pairs she had ordered in front of Tom's bookshelf, to break the dark colours of her clothes and went downstairs.

They were only a few hours away from living together in the attic for a full week and everything was going well, despite their morning routines colliding every day, but other than that, they were surprisingly comfortable.

Which was strange.

Ginny who was already used to the idea of sharing the same building with Tom Riddle and felt comfortable in his presence, something she furtively admitted to herself during the previous night, while hiding behind her mug of tea and watching Tom gesturing to himself as he took notes about what he was reading. That comfort she felt, was the same that she had experience when Tom was her Tom, nothing more than a memory of a Slytherin, her closest confidante and best friend.

She had slept many nights with him dozing off on some pillows pulled against her bed's headboard, more translucent than solid, ready to crumble to nothing if she touched him, almost invisible in the darkness of the drawn curtains of her bed in the Gryffindor's tower. There were also many afternoons passed in a remote corner of the library with him helping her with homework, sitting at her side, the sunlight still going through him, barely able to turn a page alone. Of course she knew Tom had only done those things because he was feeding on her, and getting stronger by each passing moment close to her, but if she ignored that part, they had the same serene and comfortable atmosphere of those days.

The question she asked that morning was: Why Tom seem to have accepted this new status on his small domain made of books and cauldrons? Had he changed the things he was working until she could rent a room in Diagon Alley? Did he feel the same way regarding the situation in which they found themselves? She had no way of knowing, but as she didn't felt less than welcome there, she didn't know what he actually thought.

Ginny was still occupying the couch, it was not exactly the most comfortable place where she had slept, it was small, the cushion was too soft, but it was better than the parched wooden floor she had as a second option.

That was where Ginny spent her time after dinner, wrapped in a warm blanket, ready to sleep.

The hours were spent reading and listening to the radio that Tom had let her bring from the kitchen and listen at a volume so low that it was barely audible, but that was the agreement they had.

The dedication he had to, whatever it was that he was working on, was amazing, Ginny had already realized that there were nights when he probably did not sleep more than a couple of hours. As strange as it was, it was interesting to see the most powerful wizard of the century, building the foundation of what he would be known as.

People were right, knowledge was power.

On that day, Ginny was curious to know what would happen during the weekend, it was the first in which they would have to share the same space for a day and a half. Until then, they had remained relatively isolated in their rooms, but now, they had no choice but to be in each other's company.

When that day was almost over, a letter arrived from Madame Hepzibah Smith, inviting Tom to visit her during the next afternoon, she wanted him to estimate the value of a few of her objects, after the positive opinion her representative had shared.

So the next day, Ginny was going to be alone and without having to worry about what to do with Tom, so she decided to begin her afternoon by having lunch at the Cauldron. The pub was full of families with their children, who were running all over the place causing chaos among the waiters. It was the last weekend before Christmas and everyone wanted to finish their shopping's as soon as possible and go home. Ginny sat on a small free table, in a far corner away from the children and observed the room, smiling absently and thinking about her friends back at home and her family.

Suddenly her vision field went black, causing her to stare up at what had just appeared before her.

She looked up and Abraxas Malfoy looked at her amused. "Thinking about someone in particular?" He asked with that smirk that Ginny would love to eventually punch.

"Should I?" Ginny straightened up in her chair and smiled. "What brings you here, Abraxas?"

"The need to fulfil the holiday's tradition forces me to buy something nice for my mother, but we can't go shopping hungry, can we? Are you alone? Do you mind if I sit down?" Malfoy didn't even give her time to answer, beginning to sit even before he finished his questions, and making Ginny raise an eyebrow in disgust. It looked like she would have to stay hungry so that she could disappear from the Cauldron as soon as possible.

"Excited for the Christmas dinner?" He asked, looking at her over the menu that one of the waiters had brought them.

"What dinner?" Ginny had returned her attention to the other wizards sitting around them, trying to hear what they were saying, hoping that would somehow erase Malfoy's existence from the other side of the table.

Malfoy stretched her the menu and she immediately put it on the table without looking at it, while gazing at her like she had two heads, while telling the waiter what they wanted to eat.

Whoever was invited for the Malfoy Christmas dinner, never forgot they had been invited, it was absolutely ridiculous.

"The dinner at my house, the one you will be going to with Tom, to keep his company." The mention of her co-worker's name seemed to draw her attention back to him, and Malfoy noticed this, his lip curling, waiting for her to speak.

"I completely forgot about that, what about it?"

"I asked if you were excited about it!"

"Not particularly, Abraxas." Ginny turned her attention back to the room. "I'm not going."

"Well, you'd be the first person to refuse an invitation." Said Malfoy, half incredulous.

"There has to be a first time for everything, isn't?" Ginny asked sarcastically.

Malfoy didn't contain a laugh before speaking again "Let me guess, things are not well between you two? I'm still not convinced that you're not dating Tom, it's just impossible. Have you seen him? Girls used to fling themselves at him back in our school days."

"Well, I'm not a flustered schoolgirl, Abraxas. And you can believe what you like."

Malfoy looked at her in silence for a moment. "You really have to come, the second part of the dinner involves a lot of dancing, and the guest list promises many potential dance partners."

"Sounds fun, but I don't dance," she said shortly, her lips tightening into a thin line. One of the waiters, arrived at that moment with two glasses and a bottle of wine, which proceeded to open and fill with the red liquid. "I'd rather stay in the store, cooking something that my family would probably be eating that night and read a book until I fall asleep."

"I don't think that's very healthy." Malfoy almost drank the whole glass, making Ginny wonder about a possible alcohol dependence. "The best thing to do in your situation is to go out and have fun, not to muse over things which you have no control over."

Malfoy refilled his glass.

"I believe I'm the only person that can decide over that."

"True. Anyway, talking about Tom, how is he? Don't you usually come eat here?" Malfoy leant over the table, resting his chin in his hands as he held the glass with his fingertips, making the liquid dangle inside the glass.

"He is visiting a client." Ginny said, deciding to ignore the second question that Malfoy had said.

"Hmm..." He drank the second glass and when he was about to speak again, he was interrupted by the waiter that was carrying their food. Ginny immediately began to slurp her soup, trying not to burn her tongue in the process, ignoring the unwelcome presence of the Malfoy, who had decided to refill his glass before starting to eat. "Will you have dinner with me this week?" He casually asked, between mouthfuls.

Ginny felt compelled to stop eating and look at him. "Excuse me?" Certainly she had not heard him correctly.

"Will you have dinner with me? Maybe Wednesday if you're free. I know a place far more elegant than this, that I believe you would love."

"Hmm…" Ginny felt her hunger disappear and looked stunned at Malfoy. "I'm sorry Abraxas but I can't accept."

Abraxas rested the silverware on his plate and looked at her with the air of someone who was not used to get a no as an answer, especially twice in the same day. "So you're dating Tom," he said with an air of finality.

"Abraxas, I know other men beyond Tom, what's up with insisting on this subjects? Can't I only be his co-worker?" She asked, vexed.

"Co-worker? Just that? Not even friends? I just find it really hard to be true, but if you insist..."

"Finally." Ginny went back to eating her lunch.

"Then I must insist on my invitation to dinner, Ginny. If you don't have anything with him, you have to accept." Malfoy began to cut the meat that was still on his plate with more force than necessary.

"The only way for you to accept my refusal is with the condition that I'm in a relationship with your friend?" Ginny had finally finished eating and wiped her lips with the napkin.

"He does not like to share." Said Abraxas, putting the meat in his mouth and chewing as he looked at her. "He can be quite possessive about this things."

"Well, that's not really a good picture of the man I'm working with and sharing a house, don't you think?" She asked, emphasized the word 'house', annoyed, but he wasn't telling her anything she didn't know. "Anyway, Abraxas, my answer is the same, please do not insist." Ginny stood up from the chair in a fluid movement, took some coins from her purse and left them on the table. "Good afternoon Abraxas, I'm will see you around."

Abraxas saw her walk away with narrowed eyes, putting her cloak around her shoulders and disappearing to towards the Diagon Alley. He gave a deep breath, wanting to be home, in silence and alone, where he would have all the freedom he wanted to throw his plate against the wall.

He looked at Ginny's glass wine for a moment, still full and untouched before starting to eat again. An excellent bottle wasted.

Ginny closed the cloak the best she could against her body when the cold wind in the yard buffeted her. She took the wand and touched the orange brick wall and waited for them to open the door for the Diagon Alley. She decided that the first place to visit would be her mailbox, so she walked down the street in that direction, avoiding a collision with other wizards and witches who hurried between stores.

That lunch had definitely marked a new chapter in the book of her adventure into the past. Of all the things that were happening, of everything that could have happened to her, the last thing she needed was a Malfoy interested in having dinners with her.

Just him thinking such thing would be possible was already bringing dishonour on to her family.

Slowly, she opened the door of the post, not to scare the birds and headed to her box, feeling her heart almost stop when she pushed the small key in and opened the small door. Empty. Again. It was nearly two months since she had arrived and with the festive season less than a week away she was beginning to feel melancholic. She was undoubtedly grateful for the enriching experience of visiting the Past, it was interesting, but overall pretty nasty, and it was enough. She wanted to go home, to her family, to her friends and to Harry.

She closed the mail door with a sigh and let her hand rest in the wood for a few seconds, she needed a good book for Christmas's night.

The Flourish & Blots was almost the same to what she remembered, without a bookshelf to one side, another one more to the other and the same smell of old books and ink. She climbed the stairs to the top floor, slowly, soaking the atmosphere of the store, letting her hand trail over the spines of the books that adorned the walls. The shop was quite full of wizards, as she would expect, so Ginny went to the less sought shelves in the store and sat on the chair by the small window that left the light illuminate the Muggle literature section. She reached out and took the first book that she could touch on the bookshelf in front of her and leaned back, trying to find a comfortable position for the next few hours.

It was still early when she returned to Borgin & Burkes, choosing to face the crowd to reach the entrance to her Alley, attracting a few curious looks from passer-by, which probably thought it was weird that someone would want to buy something there for Christmas. The contrast between the two streets was astonishing, hers completely empty, with snow almost untouched in the ground. She stopped in front the showcase of the store that she had reorganized; it was in fact the same one that she remembered from that morning when she waited for Kevedo. Ginny, having no key to enter the store, Apparated in the kitchen, startling Burkes' elf who almost dropped the dishes he was carrying in his small arms.

Ginny put her cloak on the back of one of the chairs and sat down with a weary sigh, she opened the brown paper that wrapped the book she had bought in Flourish & Blots and put the volume on the table, the red cover contrasted with the brown of the wood. She ran her fingers over the embossed title and gold paint, Pride and Prejudice, she read, nothing better than the romance between Darcy and Elizabeth to leave her even more melancholic than she already was. It had not been a good choice, but it was what she had.

She read the newspaper until she got hungry, then she had some dinner and went up to the attic, to wait for Tom to return from his visit to Hepzibah Smith. She changed into the clothes she slept in and laid on her couch leaning against her pillow, wrapped in her usual blanket and the new book on her lap.

"It is a truth universally acknowledged..." it began.

* * *

Tom's afternoon was much more interesting than Ginny's. Hepzibah Smith kept him busy in her manor all afternoon, and it had been some extremely productive hours for the Borgin & Burkes.

He was expected by the same wizard that visited the store a few days before, and he took him to the drawing room where Hepzibah Smith was waiting.

Tom had done his research on the Smiths, they were not a pureblood family, and the wizard line only went to the early nineteenth century. The family was already relatively well-off, but the first Smith wizard who had left Hogwarts, made sure to increase the family fortune and they were now among the richest, both on the wizard the side, where Hepzibah belonged, as the muggle part.

The house where she lived had been built recently in a Victorian style, with grey wood and high windows, the decoration was elegant but depersonalised, all designed to show off to others.

Hepzibah had a special taste for collecting valuable and particularly rare magical objects, and now she wanted to reassess her earliest acquisitions, know if their current values and see if they would preserve the investment. According to her representative, she had been delighted when he informed her that he had found someone competent for the job.

The drawing room was a very bright room with expensive couches and armchairs scattered all around the room, when the wizard opened the door to enter, Hepzibah raised from her chair, resting her cup of tea on the table with a small clink of the porcelain, and asked him to sit in a high pitched voice. The witch was much lower than Tom, he noticed as he approached her and leant over to kiss her hand, making her smile appreciatively.

Hepzibah seemed to try to compensate for her short stature by wearing colourful and extravagant clothes that made her look heavier than she was, and it contrasted with her very advanced age.

Tom sat down in the chair opposite to Hepzibah and waited for her to finish filling his cup of tea.

"Mr Riddle..." She started with a smile. "I would like to sincerely thank you for your time, especially when you could be enjoying your free afternoon from work to do other things."

"It's a pleasure Madame Smith, Borgin & Burkes always try to give the best service to its customers, someone would always be available to visit you." Tom replied with his most charming smile and watched amused as the other witch smiled even more.

Tom didn't particularly like his appearance, it was so much like the Muggle filth he killed in Little Hangleton, a constant reminder that his blood was less than pure, the part of him carried that inherently weakness. But it was useful, it transmitted confidence, put women (and some men) at ease, was friendly and was perfectly adapted to the life he had, it was nothing more than another tool that he could use, among many others.

It seemed especially useful at that time because Hepzibah seemed to be regressing to her Hogwarts' schoolgirl days, all blotched and blushed, which had probably been long centuries ago. The afternoon went on, Hepzibah was curious about how he had gotten to work at the Borgin & Burkes, and made sure to share as many tedious details about her life as she could remember, interrupting him every time he tried to speak. Only after serving a brief snack, she finally showed him the pieces that had led her to call him there.

When he finally managed to say goodbye to the witch, he was almost exhausted, she only had let him go after promising that he would return the following week and would come to her New Year Eve's party. But the final part of the evening had been worth it, Tom would have to write Burkes a report about what had happened since he had been quite impressed with what Hepzibah had shown him, and she also had shown interest in exchanging some of her less rare objects, with other of similar value from the store.

Malfoy was impatiently waiting for him in his office at home. "You look positively horrible Riddle!" He said looking him up and down. "Who was the client?" He asked while waving towards the chair across his for him to sit down, as he filled two glasses with firewhisky and put them over the top.

"Hepzibah Smith." Tom said letting himself fall into the chair and massaging the bridge of his nose before pulling the glass to him.

Malfoy laughed. "My sincere feelings, Riddle! Let's toast to the fact you are still alive!" Abraxas hit Tom's glass, making them resounded through the room while they poured down the drink.

"Thank you Malfoy, I needed this."

Malfoy sat down and began to describe what was going on in the Ministry, as usual. Describing the environment after the reopen of the war processes, the current pause due to the abrupt shortage of human resources, since everyone wanted to enjoy the last days of the year to rest, to return to attack the matter with more attention the next year, and avoid any possible mistakes that could have led to that unpleasant situation.

Tom was curious about what these errors could be, but no one knew well, the matter had emanated from the office of a wizard called Umbridge. It was he who was in charge of the operation and insisted on not sharing the information with all the departments. But they expected the Minister to intervene at the beginning of the year and put a stop to his work.

Eventually it was time for dinner and the two wizards headed to the Cauldron. They had arranged a dinner with their usual group, but only some of them had attended. Whoever passed their table would probably think that some former Hogwarts classmates had gathered for a Christmas dinner. The conversation theme, after several bottles of wine and some of firewhisky, didn't go much further than the Malfoy's Christmas dinner, always a popular theme at that time of the year, to Tom's annoyance, and then to their need to create an emblem to represent their group.

They asked for some paper and surrounded Goyle, the only one of them that knew how to draw, each making observations about what should or should not be on the thing, making the wizard draft page after page as the designs were being discarded.

They had decided that there should be a snake, after all, the base of their ideology had been widely developed, founded and published by Salazar Slytherin, so that was an essential element. Eventually, they decided to get the second element, and got their inspiration from the name they used, Death Eaters, so a skull was also made part of it.

The dining area of the pub was about to close when they finally got the design right, the skull in the centre with a snake writhing up from its inside. The Dark Mark, they called it, between laughter and a final toast with firewhisky, before saying goodbye and giving their dinner as finished.

Only when Tom had to held the neared chair to the fireplace in the Borgin & Burkes' kitchen, he realized he had drunk too much. Fortunately, the kitchen was empty and no one saw him lose his balance and hold to the kitchen's counter before entering the hall. When he started to walk up the stairs, the voice of a woman singing reached his ears, and for a moment he thought it was Ginny who was singing, but then heard the music that accompanied the voice and concluded that the idea was kind of stupid. It must be some Muggle that she liked to hear.

He took a deep breath, and opened the door, immediately leaning on the doorjamb.

"Tom?" Ginny looked at him over her pillow, closing the book she was reading, leaving a finger marking the page. "Are you okay?"

"Yes! Why shouldn't I be?" He asked sarcastically, starting to strip his cloak as he walked to his desk, and dropping it on the top, following it with is coat and vest. He was too hot and uncomfortable, so he loosened his tie and unbuttoned the first buttons of his shirt, leaning his hips against the edge of the desk, while massaging the bridge of his nose, as if that would help the room stop spinning. He looked at Ginny, who was watching with a smile from ear-to-ear. "What?" He asked annoyed, he hadn't planned on drink so much and was not enjoying being seen like that.

"You're drunk!" She said.

"What? No!" He denied, vehemently.

"Sure, you're not." Ginny couldn't stop laughing.

His brow furrowed and he pulled away slowly from his desk. He reached his pocket and pulled out a crumpled paper and smiled amused at it. It had been the perfect night to recover from that afternoon with Hepzibah Smith. When he sat down, he could still smell the witch's perfume, very expensive, bought in Paris, as she had insisted on sharing. He needed a shower.

"What do you have there?" Ginny asked walking a few steps closer to him, amused by his behaviour and noticing when he lost balance again and rested against the desk.

"A stupid sketch Goyle did." He said, folding the paper.

"Let me see." Ginny demanded with a smile, her fingers grasping for it.

Tom looked at her thoughtfully. "No."

"Oh come on! Let me see Tom." She said closing the distance between them, trying to take the paper from him, causing him to take his hand to his chest in a protective gesture.

"Ginevra, I do not want to share this with you."

"Don't be like that, just one look!" Ginny fell against Tom when he raised his arm above his head, trying to use their height difference to his advantage.

"You are unbelievable! I'm not going to show it to you! It's personal!" Tom couldn't resist and also started to laugh, putting his arm around her when he felt the desk start to skid back with their weight, pushing her away from it. Ginny didn't miss an opportunity when it presented itself, grabbed his waist, making him bend and lower his arm enough for her to get to the paper and make him release her.

Ginny walked a few steps back smiling victoriously and turned her back to him. "Whatever, I don't care." He muttered, entering the bathroom and turning on the shower loudly.

Tom's exit came at the right time because Ginny had to sit on the couch, her stomach turning. The Dark Mark, still on that page, but that she knew so well how it moved, blurred some sides by Goyle's fingers. Why? Why did she have to travel for a period of Tom Riddle's life when he was creating Horcruxes in lockets and doing these things? Why hadn't she time travelled to a period where the most exciting thing in his life were the exams to finish the 7th year at Hogwarts and she wouldn't even need to cross his path?

Ginny dropped her head to hide her face on her knees and took a shaky breath. Why the universe hated her so much?

"Are you alright?" Tom asked.

Ginny looked at him, his hair still wet, the sleeves of the sweater he liked to sleep with pulled up to his elbows, and leaning against the doorjamb. "Yes, I was just in pain by how stupid this looks." She said getting up from the couch with a shaky grin and approaching him. "Snakes and skulls? I expected that a group of wealthy Slytherins would have a more elegant taste with their drawnings." She said, returning him the paper.

His expression froze in place for a moment and he closed the door behind him, resting his back against the smooth surface. Ginny had returned to the sofa and picked up the radio, turning the small device off before placing it on the bookshelf, muting Billie Holiday for the night, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear. Her back was to him when her heart swooped and shuddered beneath her ribcage when he grabbed her, pushing her against the shelves, causing spell books to clatter to the floor, as he put his hands on both sides of her head, pinning her in front of him, his eyes looking a terrifying ice-blue in the dim firelight.

"What I find stupid, Ginevra," he said, softly, dangerously, his dark pupils boring holes into her eyes, as her heart hammered in a momentary terror. "Is why I can't seem to understand how can you know that me or Malfoy, or any of the people with whom I dined tonight, were Slytherins when we were at Hogwarts."

Ginny gasped, cursing her lack of forethought. "Please, Tom." She laughed shakily, pushing him back, taking advantage that he had not yet recovered from his dinner. "Everyone knows that Abraxas Malfoy is a Slytherin." He looked at her for a long moment before using a hand to steady himself.

"And on that day I met you in the Cauldron, and Abraxas gave me company while I waited for my food, he told me you were classmates. One doesn't need to be particularly smart to conclude that you're in the same House as him, in relation to your other friends, I suppose I just made an assumption."

"He has a penchant for talking too much." said Tom, begrudgingly.

"Yes, oftentimes he says more than he needs to." Ginny looked at him, rolled her eyes at the memory of what had happened at lunch.

"What?" Tom frowned at her expression.

"We had lunch today, he sat down on my table not even giving me time to say if I wanted his company or not." Tom's expression was once again expressionless, concealing how angry that information made him. "You have to talk to him Tom, he is starting to be very annoying, insisting we have a thing going on, trying to make me go to his stupid party."

Tom smiled and approached her, making her shiver and have a sense of déjà vu, she knew that smile, that walk, those gestures, and she couldn't do anything, she wasn't able to react when he pulled her to him, asking her to continue.

It was like she was eleven again.

"He really isn't being very receptive to the idea that I don't want to go to his Christmas dinner." She complained on Tom's shoulder, in a low voice. "And today he insisted on taking me to dinner this Wednesday, he also didn't like that I've refused." She felt him hold her tighter when those words left her lips.

"Well, don't worry about it, I won't let you go anywhere you don't want to go." He said in the same low tone she remembered from all those years ago, as he began to walk towards the bed, causing them to fall on the sheets. "Tom! What the hell are you doing?" She asked trying to get him off her, feeling crushed, the spell broken. But Tom didn't answer, merely taking away her hands that hold on to his sweater and let himself fall beside her, pulling her with him so that she could rest her head on his shoulder.

"You were right..."

Ginny groaned uncomfortable when his cold hand found the space between her pants and sweater, and Tom's fingers traced an arc on the curve of her waist, where it rested, making her cling tightly to his shirt and raise her head.

"I drank too much, and I'm feeling exhausted. The dinner, that crazy Hepzibah Smith in the afternoon..."

"And how will this help me with Malfoy?"

"I'm marking you as mine, I'll explain tomorrow."

"What? By making me sleep here? I can tell you that'll not work. Let me go."

"That's what you think Ginny." He muttered pulling the covers over them with a gesture.

Ginny felt appalled by him using her nickname for a moment. "Let me go to the couch, Tom!" His answer was pulling her impossible closer to him and ignoring her request, entangling his legs on hers.

Ginny took a deep breath, resigned, she just had to imagine she was again eleven years and Tom was sixteen, and he was casually lying next to her reading a book while... killing her slowly, because if she thought about what was happening in reality, this would be even worse than sharing her fears and secrets with his Horcrux and opening the Chamber of Secrets.

* * *

Ginny woke up the next day with Tom sleeping with his back to her. She had eventually been able to fall asleep as well, more importantly, she had woken alive and well, and it seemed he had won back some of his senses during the night and released her from his grip.

She breathed deeply, enjoying the only good thing the night had brought her: good rest from not waking up curled on the couch thinking that that would be the day that her head would get stuck between the couch's pillows.

Deciding to start working on forgetting that had happened during the night and return to their normal life, Ginny started to raise, she was hungry and wanted to sit at the kitchen table with the perspective of sleeping there when Tom had those dinners with the Death Eaters, because she never wanted to have that night happen again.

Tom, who was asleep until that moment suddenly turned to her and looked over his shoulder, leaning on his elbow. "What the hell do you think you are doing?" He asked coldly and looking at her with hostility.

"Getting up to go have something to eat?" Ginny asked him back, making Tom look at her confused with her answer.

"No, I want to know why are you in my bed?"

"Don't you remember what happened last night?" Ginny looked at him in surprise and she could not help but smile and feel infinitely relieved at the prospect of him forgetting what had happened, even if it wasn't very likely.

Tom shook his head and sank back on the mattress, covering his face with his hands. He groaned in pain.

Ginny began to laugh, better than seeing a young Lord Voldemort leaning on the furniture to keep himself from falling after a night with way too much alcohol, was to see a young Lord Voldemort suffering the consequences of such night. "It would be surprising if it didn't hurt! I don't know how you got up the stairs! You got here, you showed me a stupid drawing of a skull eating a snake, changed clothes and when I asked you to speak with Abraxas to make him stop inviting me to go out with him, you decided that the best way to do that was…" Ginny raised her hands, making quotation marks with her fingers to emphasize the words that she would say next. "Mark me."

Tom rubbed his face and let them fall parallel to his body, while Ginny laughed. "It was weird, Tom, you were really weird." She said, biting back as Tom determinedly stared at the ceiling, his way of coping with such embarrassment, probably, she had never seen him like this. "You shouldn't drink so much!" She gave him a pat on the leg. "But since you look like you're dying, and I'm hungry, I'll bring you breakfast to bed, and we can agree to forget this ever happened."

Tom watched her cross the room, pulling her pants up and disappearing down the stairs. There was something about that night that he should remember, but thinking about it was painful and so he opted to put in on the list of things to do during the afternoon.

Ginny returned with some toasts and tea, and sat on the bed, placing the tray on the blankets in front of her. Tom sat down and held his mug, pulling his legs up and resting his arms on his knees. "Don't get used to this! Next time, you'll have to go make your own food." She said starting to laugh again. "I'm only doing this because I feel bad for finding this whole situation more fun than I should probably find. I never expected to see you like that.

Tom looked at Ginny in a way that made her silence. "I sincerely ask if you could forgive me."

"What?" Ginny looked at him amused, not knowing exactly how to react, since when did he apologise for anything?

"I was not…at my best behaviour. It shouldn't have happened."

"Don't worry about it Tom, nothing bad happened…"

Tom smiled in that way that meant that he was going to say something awful. "Just like that other time."

Ginny frowned preparing herself for whatever was coming next, turning pale while trying to remember something that should not have happened with the Horcrux, and if he was going to make a reference to anything like that.

She couldn't avoid feeling paranoid every time he said things like that.

"You really don't remember what happened? Really?" It was his turn to laugh at her.

"What happened?"

"That night the Aurors were here, and I let you sleep here, I tried to wake up to check out the Aurors emptying the store across from us, and I don't know why, but you embraced me by the neck and you pulled me into a quite uncomfortable position and…" Ginny began to turn red. "Called me Harry. Who is this Harry?"

Tom watched her amused, seeing her get progressively redder, until her skin was almost the same colour as her hair, as she absorbed not only the fact of what she had done but also the fact that she called him by the name of the person he would hate the most. 'He will hate in the future… not now…' Ginny corrected herself.

"Harry is my boyfriend's name. Well, ex-boyfriend, it's complicated."

"Hmm." Tom nibbled one toast, clearly finding it more interesting than her story.

"It's very complicated."

Tom discarded the bread and reached for the tea. His stomach didn't seem ready for solids, but fortunately, the headache was going away. They finished breakfast in silence, Tom enjoying the absence of sound and Ginny feeling embarrassed by what had happened and what she couldn't remember.

"What are the plans for today?" She eventually asked, putting the plate on the tray.

'Well, it's Sunday. There is nothing to do today." Tom said.

"You're not going to work in one of those mysterious things of yours?"

'Probably, but only later, as you said, when I don't feel like I am dying. Why? You want to do something with me?'

Ginny felt herself slightly blushing, and she jutted her chin out defiantly. "I wanted to know so that I decide something for me. So far, my plan is to have a nap."

"I think you have a solid plan there." Tom remarked, his lips curling in amusement, taking a sip of tea.

"It is, isn't?"

"Well, we could play a game until lunch." Tom suggested blithely. She threw him a sideways glance, an eyebrow perking up. "Do you like chess? I haven't played in years."

* * *

Tom disappeared between the panels, searching for another shower, and Ginny went downstairs to the kitchen, with the tray resting on her hip, with directions to where to find the chessboard in the cupboards. When Tom arrived she was arranging the pieces on the worn wooden table.

The most feared wizard of the century was an excellent chess player, as she expected, slaughtered her between stories about the one person with whom he liked to play, a Hufflepuff that he had divided his desk with on his first Potions class, and that introduced him to this variant of the game during the recess. It also had marked the beginning of successful team on that class, every time the Slytherins had classes with the Hufflepuff.

When Ginny asked if he still saw her, and played a game for the sake of old times, she was left speechless, not knowing what to say when he shared that someone had freed a monster in Hogwarts and she was one of its victims. She had been so frightened by what had happened, that her parents had been forced to take her home and he hadn't seen her since.

Tom watched her carefully, waiting for her to say something, for a reaction, a question about it, after all, they were some of his best memories from school. He wanted her to ask how one of the safest schools in the country could allow such thing to happen, but she did not say anything.

Instead, Ginny leant forward, muttering a few words to her king and smirked back at him, telling him it was his turn to play.

The chess pieces had decided to defend Ginny's intentions, using every trick they knew to help her win, it got to a point that whenever Tom was not looking at the board, his own pieces would move to favour her game. She should thank Ron for that trick one day.

The rest of the morning passed quickly, with them arguing over the board and him cursing the pieces. When it was his turn to lose a game, he raised from the chair and announced he was going to the Cauldron to grab some food for them, to her great amusement.

Feeling completely recovered, Tom spent the afternoon at his desk, working, and Ginny chose her couch, alternating between reading a few pages of the new book and dozing off, ignorant of the fact that Tom was not focused at all on what he was supposed to be doing, and was instead looking at her, thinking about what had happened the night before.

What had happened, was now a fresh memory, and Tom couldn't decide what made him more disturbed about everything that had happened so far. Her arrival to the store was not a turning point in his life, things remained pretty much the same, even when she had moved into his couch, things didn't change, but maybe that was due to be used to sharing his room with someone else for most of his life.

He already had decided that whatever was going between them was weird, Tom took a deep breath and slid down in his chair, balancing the book he was reading upright on top of the desk so that it would cut Ginny from his field vision.

What he had done that night was completely unnatural behaviour for him, he had never done anything like it and he never thought he could do something like it. What had crossed his mind? But worse than that was the fact that she was not the least shocked by what had happened, he did not know any woman who would accept what had happened with the same swiftness with which she had accepted it.

Why had he held her in his arms and ask her to tell him more about what was bothering her? If he ignored the second part, where he basically forced her to sleep with him, the action seemed normal.

He rubbed his eyes and focused his gaze on his diary, half hidden under a pile of books. He closed the book in front of him and straightened in his chair, pulling the black notebook to him, opening it on the first page.

"Will you tell me what is the matter with Ginevra, or will I have to force it out of her?" He wrote, watching the paper absorb the ink.

"I don't think that's a good idea."

"I have this horrible feeling that you know her, that she knows what you are and that somehow she knows me, and it doesn't make any sense."

"You're right, it doesn't. Don't worry. "

"I really shouldn't?"

"You should be how you think it would be the best for you." Tom wet the tip of the pen in the ink and looked at Ginny, that was still sleeping across the room on the couch. One arm had slipped and her hand rested on the floor while the other held the book she had been reading. "Why do I feel that she belongs to me?"

"Because she belongs." Said the Horcrux.

"That makes no sense!"

"Don't worry."

Tom waited until the ink disappeared to close the notebook and put it back underneath the books it was before. He put his elbows on his desk and rubbed the bridge of his nose, the Horcrux was not helping. It was now obvious she knew what the diary was, that her attitude was due to the fact that they have already crossed, and he probably had not left a good impression. But Tom had never seen her before that morning, where she didn't quit fell inside the store... unless it had happened in the future.

It was absurd, but it would explain things, whatever he had done in the future had left an impression on her, it explained the déjà vus, the terror and discomfort, it also seemed to be the only explanation for what happened that night. The way she had held him to tell him the conversation with Malfoy, seemed like something she was used to doing.

However, it did not explain why he had pulled her into such an intimate embrace, a gesture that he never shared with anyone like that. Well, maybe was some part of him that was feeling bored of being alone in that attic for so long, with only books to keep him company, but still…

They should have been intimate, by the way, things were that drove him to fell protective of her when he thought Malfoy was interested in her, that weird thought he had on the first night she slept in the attic, how she seemed to fit so well in his bed.

Tom shook his head, it was not that kind of intimacy, which was something new, probably coming from the fact that he was starting to find her… very attractive.

Tom stood up and walked over to Ginny, sat on the couch's edge, against the curve of her waist and took her hand from the ground, caressing it gently with his fingers.

If she had in fact, travelled from the future, it would make sense, that she reacted to him in ways she was used to, but he was not supposed to act like she expected him to, he was not supposed to be aware that something like this was happening. There was something more he was not understanding.

Ginny opened her eyes and laced his fingers through Tom's. "What are you doing?" She asked, watching him under the semi-closed eyelids, still half asleep.

"Nothing." He said, with a mischievous smile, not sharing that he had wanted to see what she was dreaming about, see if he could catch another memory without being noticed.

Ginny freed her hand from his and held it up, brushing his hair from his face to see him properly. "You are lying."

"I would never lie to you," he said in a whisper.

"That's another lie." Ginny replied with an amused smile. "You're being kind of creepy, Tom, don't you have potions to make or something?" She asked turning to her side, pushing him off the couch and forcing him to rise so he wouldn't fall.

Tom looked at her, amused, and shook his head. He was in need of a drink, so he went downstairs.

When Ginny went downstairs to dinner, she found Tom sitting at the table reading while Borgin's elf put the plates and silverware on the tablecloth.

"The Borgins are coming to eat with us?" She asked, running her fingers through her wet hair from having just showered.

"No, he came to clean the guest room and I convinced him to stay and make our dinner."

"That was a good idea." Said Ginny lively, sitting in the chair beside Tom, watching the small elf with her face resting on her hand.

Dinner went calmly, with Ginny discussing with the elf the best way to make some a specific desserts and Tom reading his book. When they finished Ginny stayed in the kitchen, having persuaded the elf to stay with her to help her cook, and promised to write a letter to Mrs Borgin explained what had happened so no one would punish him. Tom preferred to return to the attic, he wanted to re-read a few things about Horcruxes and that seemed to be the perfect time to do so.

Tom was walking out of the bathroom when Ginny entered the attic, almost colliding with her.

"What?" She asked, irritably, when he didn't move back.

"You smell really good." He murmured, a curiously unfocused expression on his face.

"What?" Ginny smiled uncomfortably, not sure of what she had just heard.

Tom closed the distance and embraced her, pressing his face to the crook of her neck and taking a deep breath.

"Tom, you're being really creepy again, what the h..." Ginny began to ask but stopped when he put a hand on the back of her head, grabbing her hair.

She smelled of lavender and vanilla.

"I don't want you sleeping on the couch."

Her heart stopped.

"I want you to stay with me."

Ginny tried to push him away, put some distance between them, but all that did was make him drop his hand back to her waist and pull her closer to him.

"Have you been drinking again?" She asked with a nervous laugh. Tom didn't answer her, just pushed her until his legs touched the mattress. "Tom? What are you doing?"

"Ginny, please."

"Tom, don't." Ginny held onto his sweater tightly.

Tom ignored her and pushed her down. After a few moments of Ginny struggling to free herself, she managed to push him away enough to look at his face. The light coming through the window was not enough for her to see all the details, but she could see enough, the messed hair, an amused smile, a slight red tint to his eyes?

Ginny rolled her eyes and tried to push him away again. "You are nothing more than a manipulative bastard. Whatever you're trying, it's not working."

He started to laugh and pulled her closer to him. "Don't be ridiculous, sleep."

Ginny ignored and tried again, he was really heavy. She only stopped when Tom pulled her leg, paralysing her during the brief moment his fingers traced the fabric of her pants until they reached her waist. "Aren't you comfortable? Don't you feel like you belong here? Can't you feel it?"

She did not answer.

"Sleep."

* * *

 **A/N:** Kudos to my beta sinsinnatus from Tumblr!


	6. Chapter 6

Tom was the first to wake up the next morning, his arm completely asleep under Ginny, and his head felt like it was about to explode. Even the little light coming through the window bothered him. His perception was limited to the feeling of having her back against his chest.

What had happened? Why was she there again?

The last thing he remembered was to have gone up to the attic, sit at the desk with the diary in front of him, ready to examine some things while she was busy with the elf in the kitchen. What had happened after the moment he had opened the black notebook, was just not there. Tom sighed, restraining a pang of irritation caused by not being in control of the situation.

Ginny, feeling him move, turned around and buried her face in his sweater, sighing happily.

Hogwarts had one of the best libraries in the country, only behind the Ministry of Magic's Library in London. It had been there where he started his research on the Horcruxes, where he discovered how to create them, and therefore he holds the memories that preserved all he had read on the subject in the diary. He had built a small world where he could access that information whenever he started to forget some details.

The night before, he was wondering how it was possible that his own _Horcrux_ could hold secrets from him. They were two parts of the same soul, and him, as the Creator, had to have full control over the Horcrux.

Those objects could appear very complex, no doubt that the spell to create them was, but after it was done, the Horcrux was only intended to wait for the death of his Creator, to design the perfect environment to kill someone - wizard or Muggle - and use the energy of the moment to create a body so that it could pull the rest of the soul back to the land of the living.

It was not supposed to be _conscious_ , moreover, it was not supposed to have _secrets_ , let alone, hurt or affect in any way its Creator.

As it seemed to have happened the night before.

Tom felt Ginny relax against him, and he unconsciously pressed her closer against him.

There was something big he was not seeing, but he was too exhausted to look for whatever it was in Ginny's mind. He closed his eyes and inhaled the musky scent of her hair, the faint aroma of vanilla on her clothes for her late night cooking session with the elf, which was barely noticeable.

He tried to remember whether he had already spent all the potion for the headache he had.

There was a limit to how much he could stand to have an arm with no circulation, so Tom started to move away from Ginny. "What time is it?" She asked holding onto his sweater tightly. "Harry, let's stay here…"

Tom stopped moving and looked at her. For some reason, he felt a prickly discomfort at being confused for her "Harry". After all, she was in his attic, in his bed, grabbing his sweater and in the comfort of his arms. A part of him wanted to change it, wanted her to be aware that it was he who pulled her to him, but the part that told him that doing so would only bring him more problems, wouldn't allow it.

"Tempting..." he said pulling his arm from under her. "But we have to go to work Ginevra."

Ginny was startled by the sound of his voice and pushed him back with such force that Tom got half off the mattress, suspended from the edge of the bed, just balanced through her hands that still held him by the sweater. Tom grabbed her hands and looked at her angry, "Ginevra! If you let me fall I swear..." She suddenly pulled him to herself, not letting him finish his sentence. She pulled him so close that all he could see her bright brown eyes full of suspicious. Feeling Ginny's breath hot on his face, on his _lips,_ he began to get uncomfortable. "What are you doing?" he asked.

"Looking at your eyes! I'm pretty sure they were red last night!" She said through gritted teeth, freeing him.

"Red eyes?" Tom repeated incredulously, as he rose from the bed and straightened the collar of his sweater. He opened the closet and took off some clothes. "Something really wrong would be going on with me if my eyes were red… Surely we would have spent the night in St. Mungo and not here."

"I thought something wrong was _already_ going on with you..." Ginny said sarcastically, sitting on the bed, placing her feet on the cold floor.

"Well, nothing's going on," said Tom, ignoring what she was trying to say, trying to find his clothes and get away from the awkward situation he got himself to.

"No? Is it not? So what happened in these last two nights? I'm sure it was not me who started this!" Ginny replied, her voice barely lower than a shout, slamming a hand on the bed.

Tom stopped, wishing he had pulled the curtains that divided the attic before he had lost his good senses, that way he could now have a barrier between him and her. The first time, he was drunk, that was true, but _this_? He had no idea, but he wouldn't let her know that. "You may not have started it, but you also didn't do anything to stop it, and you didn't leave!"

"You think I didn't try?" Ginny asked furiously, and stood up, walking towards him and stopping at a safe distance with her hands on her hips. "You spend the night clinging to me, I was barely able to turn on my back!"

It was true that she had not tried to stop him, nor tried to keep him away, or even remembered waking up during the night to try to go back to the couch, which was disturbing enough, but the truth was, Ginny never would do that to him, under normal circumstances, if he was someone else like... Malfoy, she would have had hexed him so much he'd have spent the rest of his life at St. Mungos. But Tom was not just anybody, he was Lord Voldemort, and Ginny was not sure how he would react if she did such thing. She remembered that the Horcrux did not like being contradicted or harassed; she supposed that the original would enjoy it even less.

Every time she had done something like that, there had been consequences.

She would rather let Tom think whatever he wanted about her, for accepting to sleep in the same bed as him, than start a fight with the wizard of the century, especially when he was clearly unstable. Tom Riddle and red eyes were not a good combination, and she was sure she had seen them the previous night. Ginny loved to be alive. Moreover, it was not the first time that he made her company at night, not that way obviously, it was not the kind of relationship they had had when she was only eleven, but it was not something new. Besides, she could always imagine it was Harry who held her and hugged her, and this brought her some comfort.

It was more important to see Harry and her family again.

"What?" Tom asked, hiding the surprise her words brought him. That was bad.

"You're just really creepy sometimes." She said moving away from him and walking towards the window, turning her back to him and looking down at the deserted street covered with snow.

Tom dropped his clothes on the bed when he walked by it, striding towards Ginny. It picked at him, her saying such things about him, more than it should.

"You know what I think is _creepy_? Suspicious and odd, in fact?" Tom asked, folding his arms to resist the urge of putting his hands on both sides of her head to hold her between him and the wall. "You. I know you're hiding something, and I know that has nothing to do with Grindelwald." Ginny narrowed her eyes, not happy with the direction the conversation was taking. "And I'm starting to have a good idea about what is going on. "I expect you to share the truth with me before I find it myself..." Tom turned on his heels and walked to the bathroom, grabbing his clothes in the process, not seeing Ginny pale at his threat.

The atmosphere in the store during the rest of the day was tense, and could almost be cut with a knife. The customers flow had slowed and were back to the levels before the Ministry has decided to re-open cases against some of the most important families of the country.

Tom did not need Ginny's help, or asked for it, so she took the opportunity to reorganise the shelf further away from the front of the store, and Tom.

When was time to close, Ginny went upstairs before Tom even had time to lock the front door. They crossed in the hall, Ginny with its Pride and Prejudice book under her arm, ignoring him as she entered the kitchen to disappear into the green flames created by the Floo powder.

* * *

The reaction Ginny had that day, was precisely the one he expected. It meant she was afraid he would find out what she was hiding.

Tom remembered how Ginny had waited for him leaning against the counter, that night the Aurors had appeared in the shop, demanding to be let in, so she was not hiding from them. As she was working in a store known for its shady business and customers with a bad reputation, she was not afraid of being found by someone with a possible link to Grindelwald.

He was almost certain that his theory about her was right, how could she be less than a time traveller? Tom obviously knew why Ginny was there. He knew that everyone would know him in the future, so she had to know who he was, that was clear, but what did she want? Had he been able to achieve what he wanted? He was sure that he was going to have everything he wanted, but he also knew that his wishes and ideas would not go down well among many wizards. Some people would die for him, and others because of him.

Had she been sent to stop him?

Had the Ministry sent an Auror to end the problem before it started?

It was possible, but the time did not seem to be right.

Why try to kill him now, when he already had two Horcruxes? Certainly, it was still a fairly unknown wizard, the only remarkable thing he had done was _not_ accept to go to work for the Ministry of Magic, but Tom was already more powerful than most wizards. Why not send someone to the orphanage where he lived before Hogwarts?

Tom tried to remember any other odd visits besides Dumbledore's, but nothing came.

Was her presence due to the fact of her being in the wrong place at the wrong time? Tom sigh, letting himself slip down his chair in front of his desk in the attic. The complexity of what he was thinking was a little overwhelming for the headache he still had from the morning.

This kind of coincidences did not exist, there had to be a purpose, a reasonable reason. Tom remained faithful to the existence of prophecies, but he would hardly accept coincidences because everything that happens is the result of a certain action, the chain of a decision that someone took, even when the reasons behind are unconscious and based on feelings and moods.

Although he wanted to ask the Horcrux what had happened, he was not in the mood to repeat what had happened the previous night.

Tom rubbed his face and stood up, leaning on the desk for a few moments before running the curtains that divided the attic, with a spell he pulled the blankets of his bed. A quick look at the clock on the bedside table told him it was quite late. He assumed Ginny had dined at the Cauldron and since the dining part of the pub was already closed, she would probably be staying in one of their bedrooms.

'Good! I can finally have a good night of rest.' He thought, pulling the covers up.

* * *

Ginny, had indeed dined at the Cauldron, but she had not planned to return so late to the store, let alone stumbling on her own feet. She cursed Tom's friends under her breath. The creatures had recognised her from the dinner where Tom had introduced her and insisted on buying her a drink, which Ginny accepted just to make them shut up. One glass turned into two and that in several small glasses of shots. When she realised, with a jolt, that she was laughing at the stories they told about their life in Hogwarts.

A night, drinking with Death Eaters.

Ginny took comfort in the fact that she didn't remember them in the future, they might have gained some sense and not followed Tom in his madness. Otherwise, it was one more thing she had to add to the list of things that she never imagined she would do.

She took off her shoes at the base of the stairs and slowly started to walk up. The candles were out and the room completely dark, which meant that Tom was asleep.

Ginny went into the bathroom and looked at herself in the mirror. The black clothes gave her the appearance of someone who had just come from a funeral, her hair was all shaggy, her lips were swollen and her pupils dilated by the alcohol. She looked horrible. She washed her face and changed her clothes, ready to go to sleep, wanting to put the dinner and rest enough to face Tom the next day.

She plopped down on the couch and leant against the pillow, sighing wearily. Ginny had missed that uncomfortable thing. The contentment quickly went to feeling cold, the temperature had dropped even more in the last days, and that night it was strongly snowing, making the attic colder than usual.

Ginny couldn't find her blanket. It was not on the couch's arm where she used to leave it or on the ground beside it. Tom had probably returned it to the wardrobe. Ginny was not feeling very motivated to go through the curtains and investigate, but her teeth were starting to chatter.

It only took her a moment to find her blanket; it was lying over the other ones Tom kept in his bed. Ginny stumbled on her feet and nearly fell and for a moment she thought he had heard hear and awaken, but he didn't even move. Approaching slowly, she sat down on the edge of the bed and watched him sleep.

One hand rested on his stomach, above the blankets, and his chest rose rhythmically, slow. He took a deep breath and frowned for a moment, perhaps subconsciously feeling observed. He had a relaxed expression, one he never had when he was awake, his lips were half open, shrouded in an air of innocence that did not match who he truly was.

Ginny leant forward, a curious smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.

She wanted... wanted... _what was it exactly?_ She touched her lips with the tips of her fingers and bit her lip, unsure.

What she wanted was to punch him.

Yes, that was what she wanted. And punch him hard! She had a list of reasons to do so, a very long list that began before the day he was even born and which ended with the newest, menial fact that he stole her blanket. He didn't deserve anything less.

That wasn't true.

Ginny took a deep breath and slowly pulled the cover from under Tom's arm, feeling overwhelmed with things that she hadn't thought about since the day she arrived. She leant forward and rested her head on Tom's shoulder while pulling the blanket over herself. It was like being near him, as if touching him, made him more real, helped her make sure he was not the Horcrux. That he was there. It was the Tom Riddle from 1946 she was, again, considering killing.

She could do it right now and he wouldn't even know what happened, she could take the ring he wore on the hand that rested on his stomach and the diary to Dumbledore, and prevent a terrible future. She only had to want it…

Ginny woke up with someone slightly pulling a lock of her hair. The sky was dark outside with heavy clouds, the sun decided to remain hidden, which was perfect because she did not feel like she was able to face its light.

Tom stood on his elbow by her side, resting his cheek on his hand, his fingers entwined in her hair, and completely focused on what he was doing.

Ginny, turned so she could rest on her back and face the ceiling instead of his neck, letting out a moan of the purest pain. Part of her was incredulous, on the other part of herself that was confused about what she was doing in Tom's bed, again, but this time without being "invited". She was perfectly aware of what she had done and could not find any logical explanation for it.

She would never drink again.

"You have some of the reddest hair I've ever seen…" Tom murmured, causing her breath to hitch.

"Tom?" Ginny whispered, paralysed with fear as his knuckles grazed her cheek, slowly sliding a finger down her jaw to her chin, fixing her gaze with an intensity that she had only seen in the Chamber of Secrets.

It had been the last thing she had seen that day.

He leant forward, mere inches from her. And smiled.

His lips met hers, and time seemed to stop and the universe shrunk. It was only her, and him, and the feeling of his tight grip sliding down the back of her head pulling her closer. The other hand roughly pulled the blanket off her and found his way into her waist. When his deft, cold fingers found the space between her sweater and pants, Ginny could not suppress a surprised gasp at his touch, and Tom used that brief moment when her lips parted to deepen the kiss.

Ginny felt lost in the intensity of his mouth, she closed her eyes, and when his teeth grazed her lower lip, she felt like an _animal_. She craved more. She pulled him to her, grasped his hair, desiring what she never knew she had wanted.

When Tom finally pulled away, breathless, Ginny stared at him. She felt a trickle of horror, a dawning, a realisation of _what she had just done._

She was not able to breathe properly, her lungs heaving, gasping for air, pangs of anxiety and horror shuddering through her chest. Her hands felt from his hair to his sweater, trembling.

Tom was still looking at her, dimly curious about what she would do next. Ever the agitator, he ran his thumb along her waist, stopping to high on her ribs. He lowered his face to hers, ready for a second kiss, but Ginny pushed him away, stretching her arms suddenly and forcing him to take his hands from her to be able to balance himself.

"Don't you dare do that again, Tom! Ever!" Ginny snarled, pushing him to the side, causing him to fall hard enough to take away the air from his lungs.

She rose from the bed, crossed the curtains, leaving an open space on them and closed the bathroom door with a slam.

Tom, turned on his back and covered his eyes with his arm, a smile on his face, unable to stifle his shocked laughter. "Well, that was interesting!" He said to no one.

He got up shortly after, pushing the blankets aside and with a hand movement, the bed began to make itself and Ginny's blanket floated, bending along the way and gently landed on the couch. He changed his clothes peacefully, still riotously amused by what had happened, and was making a knot on his tie when Ginny left the bathroom. Tom watched her approach his desk, grab one of his pencils, hold her hair with it and disappear to the stairs. He noticed, with new eyes, how her clothes accentuated her curves, and remembering the feel of her skin on his hands.

He shook his head and smiled again, turning his attention back to his reflection in the mirror. When he finished buttoning his vest he ran a hand through his hair, combing with his fingers the locks she had dishevelled.

When he reached the kitchen she wasn't there, so he took an apple from the fruit basket and went downstairs to the store, but it was also empty. He sat on the counter and took a deep breath, continuing to eat and watch the calm environment of the store darkened by the storm on the street.

He was finishing opening the store when Ginny came down the stairs from the first floor, it seemed they were going to have a day like the previous one, where they would ignore each other. Tom had just sat down at the counter and opened the logbook to register out the orders for the day when she exited the warehouse, putting the leather gloves on and holding a cloth under her arm.

Tom grabbed her by the arm as she passed by him. "Ginevra…" Ginny raised her hand and closed her eyes, sighing. "Don't." She pulled her arm with a jerk and continued walking to the store's back. He sighed, aggravated.

He had admitted that the night before had been _odd_ , he didn't know what had happened, but not today, and today he would not be ignored.

The orders arrived at that moment, and Tom pulled them to him with a gesture, making them stack neatly beside him at the counter, and he began to absently register them in the book, as he turned over in his mind what had happened.

He had almost summoned his wand when he awoke to someone grabbing his shoulder, and when he looked at Ginny beside him, almost invisible within her blanket, he still considered if he actually shouldn't. _What was she doing there?_ He tried to remember if he had done something again, but no, he had slept all night, he didn't even hear her get back, or felt her lie down beside him.

Tom had decided earlier that night, given the hours they were, she must have decided to stay at the Cauldron, so he got her blanket from the couch. Perpetually chilled, as he seemed to be all winter's nights, he was not going to pass up the opportunity. However, he couldn't understand the connection between the two, she could have transfigured anything in a blanket, she could have come for hers and returned to the couch, despite that she had always respected the division that the curtains created, and never had crossed them before when they were closed. Why had she stayed?

Tom turned to his side, and she, feeling him move, pulled her arm under the protection of her blanket.

Ginny was like a puzzle, an extremely difficult to solve one and he loved a good challenge.

There she was, lying next to him as if all that had led them to share that moment was nothing special. He could get used to this, waking up with her at his side.

Not permanently, of course. After all, he had places to go and things to do that were not compatible with such life. A domestic, happy life with a fiery redhead at his side. It seemed charming, but it wasn't for him.

Maybe Abraxas was right, maybe he was wasting an opportunity. He pulled one of the locks of her hair and laced his fingers through its softness. But that did not stop him from feeling quite reserved on the matter, what he had said to Abraxas in the Cauldron still stood, and doing more than what they were already doing did not seem right. Something deep in his conscience said that.

But she was there, in his bed, for the third consecutive morning and he could not forget the feeling of her _on_ him. The way she fit perfectly into his arms and against the curve of his body. Then there was the way she acted around him, an honesty that a life between the orphanage and Slytherins had not provided, no one offered anything without wanting something in return. This thing, the innocence of her manners, it was an odd attractor to him, and he found himself wanting more.

When she woke up, and sighed, leaving her lips slightly open for a moment, looked at him with those brown eyes, a world of a difference between them. He couldn't resist. He grasped her face and kissed her. He seized her the way he seized all things he desired, with a hunger and a feverishness that set a fire to all that it touched. Tom almost let a moan escape when she opened her lips when his hand grabbed her waist, his long, pale fingers nipping at the soft flesh of her stomach.

When she responded, she acted with just as much _need_ as he did. She grabbed at him, the way a drowning man grabs for life above water, pulling him to her, fingers tugging his hair with one hand, her arm around his shoulders, clutching at his sweater, he was _sure_ she wanted this as much as he.

Tom's train of thought was suddenly interrupted when Ginny threw the cloth at his head, and he grimaced unpleasantly. "What was _that_ for?" He asked angrily.

"Just stop." Ginny said as she started to walk up the stairs.

"Stop what?" He asked, smirking, understanding what she had done.

"I _know_ what you were thinking." She said, stopping in the first steps of the spiral staircase, looking murderous.

"And what was I thinking?" He asked provocatively, his tongue wetting his lip as he watched her subconsciously put her hand on the same place on her waist that he had touched that morning.

Ginny took off her leather gloves and threw them against him, one slapping against his chest, the other he caught with his hand. "Jerk."

Ginny turned her back to him and walked up the stairs, trying to ignore the laughter that followed her to the upstairs floor.

She was furiously preparing a couple of eggs for her lunch, rethinking the options she had made up until that point, about not starting a confrontation with Lord Voldemort and risk her life and livelihood, so she did not hear him enter the kitchen, a moment later after closing the store, and almost dropped the bowl when his arm brushed hers.

"What the hell are you doing?" She hissed, looking at him angrily.

"Hmm? Making food? As I do, here, every day?" Tom answered indifferently, opening the silverware drawer to take a knife from the inside.

"Weird, is the first time you have to be glued to me to do it..." She said sarcastically.

"But the bread is here beside you. How can I make a sandwich without bread?" Tom observed her for a moment, like she had a problem, looking honestly confused.

Ginny sighed exasperatedly and looked at the ceiling for a moment, she could see herself cursing him, and she didn't care about the consequences. This was unacceptable. "Tom, the _bread is over there_!" She pointed to the other side of the kitchen. "Where it always has been, and where you always told me to put it."

Tom followed the direction of the finger. "Oh... my mistake." He turned back to Ginny, resting his hip against the counter and pulling a tress of Ginny's hair, lacing it through his long fingers before Ginny jerked back and walked towards the stove with the bowls in her hand. "I completely forgot."

"I'm not joking; I don't want you near me with... with that _attitude_." Ginny took out her wand and hit the stove nozzle, causing a flame to light up beneath the skillet.

And then he was behind her. "Ginevra..." The voice whispered – she whirled around. He had closed the distance between them and would've been up against her had she not had her wand pointed at his chest.

"Tom." Ginny felt a chill run up her back when his expression changed, his face was impassive, his eyes cold and his body had tensed, building up the energy to defend himself if necessary.

With a wave of his hand, Ginny's wand fell to the ground and Tom took the last steps that separated them. "I do not like being threatened, Ginevra." He said emotionless, his hand tightening around her wrist. "Don't do it again."

His hand snaked its way around her waist and pulled her to him with a jerk, forcing Ginny palms to splay onto his chest, trying to keep some distance between them.

"What are you doing?" Ginny asked, watching his finger trail her cheek.

"What do you think?" His voice had become rough, low. Hungry.

"I don't want this."

"Oh really? The way you were this morning… you could've fooled me." Tom lowered his face towards Ginny's, but he merely just touched his lips to the shell of her ear. Ripples of sensation wracked her body and she gasped. She could feel his smile against her skin.

"Then should I start to be careful with what you give me to drink or eat, Tom?" She muttered, but he ignored her, his mouth on her jaw now, leaving the ghost of a kiss. "If you get tired of waiting for me to cooperate, will you give me a love potion?"

The mention of that potion was enough to pull him away; he looked into her eyes suspiciously, frowning. Ginny immediately turned to the stove and poured the eggs into the boiling butter, already burnt in some parts of the skillet.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Tom asked coldly, but making clear that he was angry with her words when he clenched his hands into fists. Ginny stifled a nervous laugh, how could he _not_ be affected? Harry had told her, she knew about his half-crazy mother who forced the man she had fallen in love with to be with her through love potions and spells, and he, knowing very well what had transpired between them, could not be anything but bitter about the disastrous events that led to his existence.

"I have a feeling, you're the kind of man who hates not having what he wants, even more than Abraxas." Ginny continued, with her back still turned to him, firmly focused on her eggs.

"Abraxas?" Tom was still rooted to the same spot and Ginny had to push into his shoulder to make him move out of the way and let her pass with the frying pan.

"When he had lunch with me the other day, he told me you were quite possessive when interested in someone." Ginny put the pan on the wooden board, took a dish from the cabinet and poured the eggs into it. "It didn't leave a good impression on me, and it is one of the main reasons I was not interested in… your advances. It does not seem to be very healthy behaviour." She said turning to look at Tom, with the dish in her hand, before sitting down at the table and begin to eat, making a cup of water float to her after calling back her wand from the floor.

Ginny raised an eyebrow as she looked at him, feeling apprehensive, hoping not to have pushed any button too hard and pass the barriers he had built around his family history. It was with relief that she saw him smile and pass a hand through his hair. Maybe he understood her reference to the potion as some kind of comparison to a Muggle drug, and not something related to his family.

Good.

Tom walked over to the counter and also took a dish from the cabinet and put some bread on it, throwing the small package back into the basket. With a spell he made the dish and the jam jar rise up in the air to finish his lunch, and made the kettle float to the fire to prepare some tea.

"Abraxas." He said with a laugh, sitting beside her and resting his face on his hand. He watched her eat for a moment before speaking again. "Possessive? What more did he say about me? I think he only said that because he likes you."

Ginny did not answer.

"If you want to know, you kind of hurt my feelings." Tom said, a smile playing on his lips.

"I hurt your feelings?" Ginny asked, incredulously.

"A lot!" Said Tom. "Abraxas is a bad influence, Ginevra, he likes to lie to get what he wants. You should keep yourself away from him."

"I'm sure he will keep his distance, after all, with all that 'marking',Afterall" She said, raising her hands to form finger quotations, rolling her eyes. "You did; he will not get near me."

Tom smiled, amused that she brought that up after what had just happened, but he couldn't resist but to be malicious. "It takes more than three nights for the "mark" to work, maybe you should sleep with me for a few more, to make sure that it does not fail. After all, his party is almost here and you know he likes his drink."

"Tom, _don't_." Ginny rolled her eyes and finished eating. "And I'm not going to his stupid Christmas dinner or whatever." She said pulling the Daily Prophet to her and opening it in such way that she couldn't see him, disappearing behind the yellowed pages animated by photos of wizards and witches who had done something remarkable that day, even if it was just remarkably stupid, like the conversation they just had.

* * *

Hours later, Ginny was nibbling a sugar feather, while trying to solve the crosswords from that morning's Prophet. She was back on her couch, covered with her blanket and lying on her pillow.

As it should be.

The radio softly played some music on the floor beside her, but this time not because Tom was working at his desk. Madame Hepzibah Smith had invited him for dinner, and he had been unable to refuse. He almost dragged himself down the stairs to the kitchen, after closing the store, and was resigned that he had thrown the Floo powder into the fire and entered the green flames.

Ginny sigh, immersed in the tranquillity the attic had that night. The moon rose high in the starry sky, the light passed idly by the stained glass of the round window, creating some reflections here and there, disappearing as they approached the orange aura of the few lit candles she had floating around.

She was a few chapters away of finishing her book, which meant that on the next day she would have to make the sacrifice of going to the Flourish & Blots and find another one to read. Something with more pages this time, and then have dinner at the Cauldron. Ginny smiled. Life was unfair, making her to leave the store like that and be away from her problems for some hours.

She closed the book and put it on the floor, turning and trying to find a comfortable position to sleep, the body estranged with the small space after three nights in a comfortable bed. _'Comfortable from it being big, not because I slept with him._ ' Ginny thought, it was important to make that clear. She sighed. She was trying to deny herself the need to process what had happened the last few nights, trying to avoid at all costs to think about what would her family think about this, what _Harry would say_ if he ever knew.

But that kiss... that kiss, it rivalled her first kiss with Harry. But, she could not compare the two, they had been so different, just like the men were so different.

A world apart. Literally.

Ginny pulled the blanket over her head, stunned. What happed with Burke, was happening with Tom, she _intentionally_ placed herself in a situation that could go wrong, that went wrong, and now she was again trying to blame someone else for the foolish decisions she made.

It was not too late to ask Dumbledore for that house with a garden in the south of France.

She heard Tom's steps in the bottom of the stairs, and he stepped to hard, obviously tired. He closed the door behind him and took a breathed heavily, looking around, noticing that Ginny watched him from the couch.

"How did it go?" She asked, pulling the blanket closer to her.

Tom took off his coat and vest and dropped them on the desk top, widened his tie and undid the first buttons of his shirt before sitting down on the couch in the small space that wasn't occupied by Ginny's legs. "It was horrible." He said rubbing his face. "For me _personally_ ; to the store, a tremendous success." He rested his arm on her leg and looked to the wall in front of him.

"Congratulations?"

"She insisted again on me going to her New Year's party... Will you go with me?" Tom asked plaintively, turning his attention to Ginny. "One night of hard work to please the old Smith so that we can bring some extra profits to the store?"

"That does not sound very fun."

"Malfoy will not be there, and I could really use my assistant's help on this."

Ginny scratched the tip of the nose thoughtfully. "Since you put things in that way, I think I can go. But it's the New Year... it's special."

"I don't remember sharing with you that it was my birthday..." Tom said with a sly smile.

"It is? I didn't know!" She lied, _of course she knew_. "It's kind of sad that you have to go to her party..."

Tom rubbed the bridge of the nose. "Honestly, I would rather stay here, I've a lot of things to read."

"Ha! Nerd!" Ginny exclaimed, giving him a slight kick in the back, making him smile. "Anyway, I meant January 1st."

"What about it?! He asked resting his chin on his hand, watching her carefully.

"It will be the day that I'll be able to move to the Cauldron and you will have the attic to yourself again!" she said enthusiastically.

"Oh... I completely forgot." said Tom, leaning back, resting his back against the couch over her legs, in a very uncomfortable position and not sharing her enthusiasm. "I think I'll miss you, I already got used to your company."

Ginny narrowed her eyes. "It's not like I noticed." she said sarcastically.

Tom put his arm back on her thigh and sighed tired, closing his eyes.

Feeling him to start dozing off, she pushed him slightly with her legs. "Don't fall asleep here! Go to bed."

"Hmm?" Tom rubbed his eyes and stood up. "I need a shower." He said hoarsely. "That woman has a horrible perfume that penetrates everything. Can't you smell it?"

"Nope." Ginny pulled her blanket up, to make up for the part that Tom had flattened when he seated, turning on her back.

She was asleep when Tom called her name. Ginny opened her eyes and peered over her hip. He had pulled the curtains and peered through the opening. "What is it, Tom?" She asked almost with no voice, rising on her elbow to be able to see him better.

"Something is about to happen." He whispered, his eyes dark gemstones in the dim light.

"What are you _talking_ about?"

"Can't you feel it?"

"Tom, please, what's going on? I don't understand..." Ginny sank back, covering her face with her arm dramatically, to emphasize that the game he decided to start in the middle of the night was killing her.

In a moment, he was beside her, his grip like a vice on her arm. She gazed up at him; his face was a ghostly mask.

"Dementors."

* * *

 **A/N:** Kudos to my beta sinsinnatus from Tumblr!


	7. Chapter 7

"Well, this is disappointing..." Ginny said pulling the blanket over her shoulder which had started to slip, and looking at the creatures that flew in a circle over the roof of the store across the street.

"Dementors." he had said, and that had been enough to draw her attention and make her sit on the couch.

"What? Here? Why?" Tom motioning for her to follow him before disappearing between the curtains, so Ginny stood up pulling the blanket with her and did exactly that.

Tom was standing in front of the window, arms folded over is chest, watching the scene on the street, amazed. But Ginny's reaction when she saw what was going on outside, was to duck and press her back against the small space between the floor and the window.

Four Dementors hovered in a circle above the store across them, like vultures.

That was not normal, they should be in Azkaban, what were they doing there?

Ginny could feel them, even with some distance between them; the air was cooler, and it explained why she had been walking down the hall of the Chamber of Secrets before Tom woke her up.

He continued in the same position, lost in thought, facing the Dementors across the street, completely visible to the creatures if they decided to look inside. Moving quickly, she grabbed him by the sweater and pulled him down.

"Do you want to die?" Ginny asked in annoyance as she pulled the blanket back over her shoulders. Tom pushed her to the side and rolled his eyes, turning back to the window with one knee on the ground and low enough so nothing could see him from the outside.

There was nothing to fear, they were not interested in them, and Dementors were, after all, one of his favourite creatures.

Suddenly they heard the kitchen's table been drawn through the floor and some of the chairs falling down; the noise making them look at the curtains that divided the attic. Tom looked at Ginny and smiled strangely amused. "I suppose the Aurors came to try to search the store again."

"With Dementors?" Ginny asked in a whisper, pushing him to the side to see what was going on. "It seems to me a bit exaggerated..."

The bell sounded muffled on the ground floor when Borgin and Burke open the door to the street before appeared outside, which led to one of the Dementors to descend down to the street, hovering over the two partners, who exchanged a look before turning their attention to the four Aurors that in the meantime also entered their vision field.

"Let's see if we can hear..." Tom unlocked the large window and leant it slightly out, letting in a blast of cold air in that made him gasp when it hit him.

Ginny got closer to Tom and stretched him a corner of the blanket, making him smirk imperceptibly. Pulling the blanket over his shoulders, Tom sat down, as close to the window he could to see what was happening outside, and pulled Ginny closer to him, resting his wrist on her knee, then focusing his attention on what was happening outside, feeling pleased she was letting him touch her without any fuss.

The Aurors had returned, again without all the papers they needed to be able to enter the store. This time, they obviously had come better prepared, with better arguments, a patrol leader with more vocabulary. In other words, more persuasive and manipulative than the one with whom Tom had spoken in their previous encounter.

They didn't understand why they would bring Dementors with them, not just one, to intimidate the owners of the store, but one for each Auror, like bodyguards. A very unusual task for those creatures, no doubt, that rarely exited the premises of the wizard prison.

Stanger than that was the blatant incompetence surrounding the mission. They should never have come back without the proper documentation to search the store, it seemed that someone in the Ministry was trying to do something under the table, but not planning it well at all, and managing to raise a lot of attention with the attempt when they decided to bring such creatures to London.

It kind of reminded Ginny of her own mission.

"Do you think they'll get in?" Ginny asked, bending her back to ease her discomfort, after a few minutes of silence.

"I doubt it." Tom said, repeating the same movement that Ginny, feeling the muscles of his back relax for a moment, then immediately beg for a more comfortable position.

Ginny began to gradually lose interest in what was happening on the street, getting bored and sleepy. It became obvious that they would not been searching the store, and their plan had failed. They had brought the Dementors as some kind of last resource to intimidate the owners of the store. Unfortunately, Borgin and Burkes, by the nature of their business and their shady customers, had more experience in regard to the arts of intimidation then the Aurors would ever have.

Ginny rested her chin in her hand, watching the three Dementors who continued to hover in a circle on the dark roof of the store in front of theirs. She looked further, appreciating the view the attic had, which was a surprisingly nice view over London. It could be seen in the background a very small Big Bang, imposing, none the less, cutting the skyline in the distance, as well as a myriad of church towers and even some cranes next to buildings whose reconstruction was still in process, shadows of WWII still visible in the city.

"Well, there's nothing to see here anymore." Ginny stand and pulled the blanket with her, leaving Tom exposed to the cold air coming through the window's opening. "I'm going to sleep."

Tom also got up and closed the window, watching her disappear through the curtains before sitting down on the bed observing the Dementors. What was going on in the street, had stopped being interesting for quite a while, but he had stayed because she had stayed.

He was about to fall asleep when someone started knocking on the door. "Riddle!" Chanted Burke across the wood. "Riddle!"

Tom crossed the attic, stopping next to the couch, where Ginny was sitting looking at the door, bewildered. "What does he want?"

"I do not know, but you should grab your pillow and get into my bed." Tom walked back to draw the curtains so that the bed would be visible from the door. "He never wanted to talk to me in the middle of the night before."

Ginny got the message and walked past Tom, resigned.

After what had been happening in the last days, the last thing she needed was Burke being weird again. How she hated her life... She spread the blanket at the foot of the bed, threw her pillow on top of Tom's and sat down on the bed covering her legs, trying to look drowsy and confused.

When Tom opened the door, she gave a brief nod to Burke and lay down, turned her back to the door and pulled the blankets up to her nose.

Tom stepped down the first step of the stairs and leant against the wall, closing the door in the process. Burke was trying really hard to hide how angry he was from seeing her there, before beginning to speak.

Tom resisted the urge to roll his eyes, he was right about Burke's intentions, had she stayed on the couch, she would be in trouble.

Burke was telling him in detail what had happened with the Aurors for what it seemed like an eternity and he was losing his patience because it was obvious that he was doing it just to keep him outside and away from Ginny. "Burke, can we finish this tomorrow? I'm starting to freeze and I really need to rest these last few hours until the sun rises."

"Rest?" Asked the other wizard with a laugh that was far from amused. "She isn't giving you much time to rest when you're awake, is it then?"

Tom coldly smiled in response and grabbed the doorknob. "No, she has not." He said looking over his shoulder, making sure the other wizard understood he did not appreciate such observations about his private life. "Good night Burke." He entered the room and closed the door behind him, activating the spells that locked it with a movement of his hand.

He stood by the bed, founding Ginny asleep.

She was precisely where she should be.

He did not expect to see her there again during the last days they had together before she left the store.

Tom slowly lay down beside her, so as not to wake her up and looked at the back of her head.

The mention of a love potion had been a really low blow from her side, it had put him away, just like it would do to any other wizard. On another level, it had been an insult, but there was absolutely no way she knew what he thought she had alluded to, he had killed everyone that knew.

He rested the back of his hand against Ginny's hip for a moment before sliding the back of a finger up her waist. She responded to his touch, turning to him, pressing her body against his, her head resting on his shoulder, crossing an arm over his chest "What is it that Ron wanted?" She asked in a whisper that caused a wave of disdain to pass through Tom.

Again the same, he was beginning to develop a hatred for this Harry in a way that he had never felt for anyone in years. How was it even possible? It was the fourth night she was there, the first after that kiss, and she still had her mind focused on some guy she hadn't seen for over a month and which who she no longer had nothing?

At the slightest provocation, he could feel her mouth on his, her fingers in his hair, the way she tasted and her body grinding against his. It was impossible that she didn't feel the same desires that were starting to claw at him, underneath his very skin; she was just incredibly stubborn about it. Just as she was about everything else.

He took a deep breath, trying to restore some order to his thoughts. Tom put his arm around Ginny and focused on the feeling of having her so close, focusing on the way her hand rested on his shoulder, the leg that had wrapped around his and fell asleep.

The next morning, he woke up feeling her stretch to his side, before realising where she was.

"It's already morning?" He asked in a hoarse voice, covering his eyes with his arm while holding Ginny down with the other, as she tried to sit up.

"Come on Tom, let me get up..." Ginny muttered trying to sit up again and that turn not finding any resistance. "You should have woken me up..."

Tom also sat, resting his arms on his knees. "You looked so comfortable, I didn't dare..." He said calmly, observing with curiosity the way her red hair reflected the light coming through the window, with a provocative smile on his lips.

"You're horrible..." Ginny stood up, walking over to her dresser to choose what to wear. The weather was still very cold, and today, she was going to spend the night at the Cauldron, so she was feeling like keeping her pants and be comfortable.

She felt kind of melancholy and miserable, and it was because of the Dementors.

Ginny touched her folded skirts in the drawer, ignoring Tom, who continued to look at her from the bed. Today she didn't feel the courage to face reality. She was exhausted. She took a white shirt and a green sweater from the drawer, almost the same colour of Harry's eyes and disappeared into the bathroom, today she was going to be herself.

The small room was colder than the rest of the attic, so she turned on the hot water and waited for the steam to spread around the small space, watching her reflection in the mirror gradually disappear.

Work with Lord Voldemort, live with Lord Voldemort, be his roommate and now share his bed. What was she doing with her life? She cleaned the mirror with the palm of her hand to look at her reflection again.

She looked horrible.

It was not long until she could move out to her own place. It was two days before Christmas and from there to the New Year, was nothing. She was going to have her things ready before leaving with Tom to Hephzibah Smith's party, so that when she woke up the next day, she would only need to grab her bag and move out.

She had not foreseen this when she decided it was a good idea to stay close to Tom Riddle while thinking about what to do in relation to him. But how could she have guessed this was going to be the result? She knew something could happen with Borgin, and she had been right, but with Tom?

This was a surprise.

She had to admit to herself that she had fallen into old habits. She built new routines on habits that were created with the Horcrux, underestimating the wizard she worked with, confusing him with the memory that he had left in a notebook.

That was her biggest mistake since she had arrived.

The Tom Riddle that had held her over the night was not the ghost of a teenager trapped in a notebook, he was a grown man, and she no longer was 11 years old.

Now she had set foot through a door she should never have opened in the first place.

Now it was too late.

She slowly undressed and entered the shower, letting the hot water run down her face, almost burning her skin.

Ginny was completely, utterly, irreversibly screwed.

Although exhausted and in denial, she could not say that the day had not gone well. Tom kept his distance, fortunately respecting her personal space, except that brief moment when he slightly pulled her pants to inquire about the whereabouts of her skirt during the breakfast.

Ginny rocked over the heels of her boots, feeling the leather slightly scratch her calves while writing an entry in the book for the small box that had arrived in the afternoon.

They were about to close.

Suddenly the fire erupted in green flames and Abraxas Malfoy emerged from the fireplace, cleaning the ashes from his impeccably black outfit and running a hand through his blonde hair.

Tom left the warehouse, pulling the gloves on his hands, ready to receive the customer, but paused for a moment when he saw who it was. "Abraxas, I was not expecting to see you…" He said with a smile, circumventing the counter to greet the other wizard.

"That's because I did not come to see you." Said Malfoy, looking away from Tom to focus in Ginny, who continued to write with her head bent down, leaning on the counter, not paying attention to them.

Tom followed his gaze and jerked his head back to glare at Abraxas hotly. How dare he disrespect her like that? She had told him she did not want to go out with him… what was going on that idiotic brain of his?

Malfoy, ignorant of Tom's thoughts, walked around him and bent over the counter, next to Ginny, catching her attention.

"Hello, Abraxas." She said without looking up from her book.

"Are you ready?" He asked cheerful, excited with the idea of passing the rest of the day with her.

"For what?"

"To go?"

"Go where?" Ginny put her feather down and closed the inkwell, then blew the ink carefully, to help it dry faster but without smudging it. "I don't remember making plans with you."

"Seriously?" Abraxas was surprised. "Are you serious? You really don't want to go have dinner?" He asked incredulously.

Ginny closed the book and looked at Abraxas and coldly assessed her options.

"I already have plans for today Abraxas, but you can come with me if you want." She put her hands in her pockets. "You can also come, Tom."

"Oh no, Ginevra, I'm not going with you." Tom rolled his eyes and started to lock the door of the store. "Far from me, to allow myself to ruin your night."

"I was not asking if you wanted to come." Ginny said coolly.

"Didn't you now?" Tom put his hand in his pockets, watching her in a calculating way, trying to understand what she wanted. Were they having another "Burke" moment? The last thing he needed was to have Abraxas thinking he had changed his opinion about Ginny.

"No, I didn't." Said Ginny beginning to climb the stairs to the top floor.

Flourish & Blots had, even more, people than the last time she had been there, and she almost hit some wizards that were queueing in front of the fireplace to pay for their books. Before she could decide to which way she should turn to open the space for Tom and Abraxas, she felt the fire explode behind her and then someone hit her almost making her fall down.

She hoped it was not Malfoy that had just put his arm around her to keep his balance.

"What are you doing standing in front of the fireplace?" Tom asked bothered, not having time to notice the wizards in front of them, because Malfoy came out of the fireplace at that moment and crashed against Tom making him almost fall over Ginny again.

Ginny broke through the queue and started to walk up the stairs, followed by Tom and Malfoy.

"Do you know what you want to buy?" Asked Malfoy several steps behind her.

"No, I want to have a look first." Ginny said, leaning against the wall to let some people pass down.

Ginny finally found the Muggle literature section, and slowly ran the books with her fingertips, before pulling out a heavy volume out.

"We don't have much time before the store closes…" Malfoy said. "Maybe half an hour."

"What is it, Tom?" Ginny asked, ignoring Malfoy, looking at him slightly bite his lip looking at some other corner of the store. "You can go see whatever you want Tom, the fact that you have to come with me and Malfoy, does not mean you have to be with us all the time."

Ginny smiled evilly at him. If he had the ability to kill with a single look of those icy blue eyes, she would already be lying on the floor, dead, but Tom chose to roll his eyes at her before walking away without even giving her an answer.

After several failed attempts to make Ginny talk to him and failing every time, Malfoy also walked away, choosing to wait for the two leaning over the railing, watching, bored and annoyed, the queue on the ground floor get progressively smaller.

"We should go." He eventually said, walking closer to Ginny, who was trying to decide what book she should buy. "We still have to go look for Riddle, maybe try to stop him before he buys the entire place…"

"Hmm? Alright." Ginny showed to Malfoy the two books she was holding. "This one or this?" She asked.

Malfoy frowned while reading the titles. "I don't know Ginny; why don't you choose something normal?" He asked, referring to the fact that she was showing him Muggle books instead of proper wizardly literature.

They were starting to walk down the stairs looking for Tom, when they finally saw him, clearly carrying more books than was wise. They exchanged a look for a moment, fun to Ginny and Malfoy, but uneasy for Tom, who only realised at the time the actual amount of books that he had taken off the shelves.

"You don't understand; I need this books." He said, authority in his voice that didn't leave space for arguing.

"Of course." Ginny remarked, struggling not to laugh.

"Let me help you with that..." Abraxas approached Tom and took half of the books from his arms.

The cashier packed the books in three different piles, and each one of them grabbed one before walking to the fireplace.

"Abraxas, I believe we can agree upon..." Ginny put the books on the free chair of the table where they had sat in the Cauldron to have dinner. "That we will not go to a bookstore with Tom Riddle ever again."

"You're right about that." Said Malfoy, placing his books on top of Ginny's package, before sitting down beside her.

"Both of you are absolutely unbearable." Tom muttered, putting his books in the chair as well. They looked in silence at the books enveloped in brown paper rise above the table top. "They aren't that many... they are just big."

Ginny coughed to disguise a laugh.

"Well, how about we ask for a bottle of wine?" Asked Malfoy, not giving anyone time to answer, he called the waiter and asked him for a bottle with an unpronounceable name in Portuguese.

They stayed in an awkward silence waiting for the waiter to return with the wine, and even when another waiter brought them a menu, they found a topic of conversation, using the small booklets as an excuse to justify the quietness.

"Do you have everything ready for the dinner?" Tom asked, pulling a conversation topic that bored him, but not bearing to be in silence a moment longer. Abraxas was starting to get in a bad mood due to his presence there, after all, the purpose of his visit that afternoon was to take Ginny to dinner, only Ginny, not Ginny and Tom.

On the other side of the table, Ginny had opened her book and was reading its last page as she nibbled the tip of her thumb. With no chance of getting out of there, he could see she had sent her mind away.

"Yes, almost everything is ready." Malfoy said dryly. "We are finished cleaning the guest rooms and decorate the gardens. Ginny, I asked the elves to prepare you a room near Tom's and mine." Malfoy pushed Ginny's book down with a finger to catch her attention, immediately regretting it because of the way she looked at him after.

"Abraxas, we talked about this." She pulled the book towards her, to keep it away from him, and went back to reading.

"Maybe you should reconsider Ginevra." Said Tom, while tearing the tip of the napkin with his knife, bored. "That night, Burke usually has a small dinner in the store with some friends that are..." Tom tried to find the words to describe them. He gave up. "I think you should come with us."

Ginny looked at Tom in disbelief and closed the book tightly between her hands, letting it fall on top of Tom's after a moment. She opened her mouth to ask him why he had not mentioned it earlier, but the waiter arrived with the wine and filled their glasses. She took a deep breath and blinked a few times trying to process what he had said, then he looked at Malfoy. "I will go to your dinner with pleasure, Abraxas."

"Did something else happened with Burke?" He asked, confused.

"No, but it's better that I don't give him a chance to make something stupid." Ginny took her glass to her lips, swallowing the sweet red liquid.

"And you can't forget we have a "thing" now." Said Tom, not resisting, making Ginny choke and look at him with wide-open eyes, her mind on what had been happening in his bed. "Remember what you made me do to get off that situation?" He asked, looking at her amused as she relaxed on his words. "It would be weird if you stayed at the store alone while I went out."

"I've completely forgotten about it." Ginny answered drinking the rest of her glass, ignoring Abraxas that was looking annoyed at her after hearing Tom. "But you're right Tom, as always." She pulled the bottle to her to read the label, but the whole text was in French, so she simply poured another glass to herself, it was going to be a long dinner.

It wasn't late when Ginny and Tom returned to the store.

Ginny put Tom's books on his desk and sat down on the couch, slowly taking off her boots. Tom followed her soon after, carrying the rest of the books he had bought, and also put them on the desk, sitting next to Ginny on the couch.

"Why didn't you tell me that Borgin was going to spend his Christmas Eve here?" She asked, sliding away from him.

Tom leant back, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. "I forgot."

"I really doubt it..." Ginny mumbled, upset.

"What did you say?" Tom asked sleepy, looking at her under half-closed lids.

"I said, where did you put my pillow?" She didn't felt like arguing, she just wanted him to get up, go to the other side of the attic and leave her alone.

"It's still in my bed." Tom said, closing his eyes again. When she got up, he wondered what would happen if, at that moment, he pulled her into his lap. Nothing good for him probably. But he really wanted to touch her again, have her back in his arms. Kiss her.

"Don't fall asleep there." Ginny told him, throwing her blanket and pillow at him before walking to the bathroom and slamming the door behind her.

Tom pushed her things to the side and got up, trying to not get angry. He changed clothes and was finishing closing the curtains when Ginny sat on the couch, not even glancing at him before putting the blanket over her head.

* * *

Christmas Eve arrived and Ginny could not wait for it to pass, she was still feeling completely exhausted and the idea of having to go to a party was not helping her mood at all. She walked upstairs and stopped by the closed curtains.

"Tom?" She called. "Are you alive in there?" Sometime after lunch had passed when she decided to see if he was okay, or was studying, or just doing something evil, she couldn't guess.

Ginny had raised late from her couch, she had actually wakened up at the usual time she had to get up for work, but she felt so tired that she didn't found the courage to get up. When she finally did, the curtains were still closed, nothing special about it, Tom used to leave them like that so that the light wouldn't wake her, it was kind of nice of him, but she could always hear him doing something like moving in bed, or stir some papers.

Despite the fact that he was the most powerful wizard of the century, he didn't seem strong enough to face the mad world of a Christmas Eve.

So, if he wasn't in anywhere of the store, and she couldn't hear him, it had to mean he took some books to read on his side of the attic, stayed up late reading, and now was still asleep to compensate for the lost hours.

The time had passed, with Ginny lazily reading her new book in the kitchen, she ate a hearty lunch because he had a feeling that Malfoy's Christmas dinner wouldn't be anything more than a large number of people eating fancy food all night, and drinking sparkling wine as if all the water on the planet had dried.

Ginny, hungry, would never be able to face one night between the VIP of the wizardly society.

When Tom did not answer her, Ginny hesitated for a moment to whether or not to pass through the curtains and see if he was there. She felt like that because first, this time, she was sober, had she not been that unfaithful night and her relation with Tom would still be quite "simple", second, it was his space and as the guest, she tried to respect it.

"No, I can't say I'm really alive, Ginny." She heard his voice behind her and quickly turned around.

It was not the real Tom that was talking to her.

It was the Horcrux.

She held onto the fabric and let herself slip onto the ground, in shock. "You..."

Of all the Tom Riddles versions she had the misfortune to meet, the Tom from Hogwarts, the one with whom she lived now and of course, Lord Voldemort in the future, who she didn't actually meet but saw from a relatively safe distance; the one she hated the most, was looking at her from the desk.

He was her worst nightmare.

The Horcrux was watching her with cruel amusement, arms behind his back, a hideous smile that did not rise to his cold, blue eyes devoid of emotion. Ginny could see straight through him, to the door to the stairs behind him. But she fixated on the boy in front of her, the one who had been the sole cause of her nightmares ever since she was 11. Her eyes raked over the Hogwarts uniform with the steel-grey and emerald emblem in his chest, the black robes that went down from his shoulders to his ankles, and fell upon his eyes.

With a brief look to the side, she saw the diary, resting open at the desk, its pages blank as if it was a simple notebook and nothing more than that.

When he took a quiet step towards her, Ginny pulled her legs towards her, when he took a second step, Ginny released the curtains and crept back, only stopping when her back hit the wall, feinting the undulating curtains with bated breath, and not believing what she was seeing.

Her heart almost stopped when the Horcrux crossed the curtains, like a ghost, calmly walking towards her. With nowhere to flee, she closed her eyes, pressed her back against the wall as much as she could and turned her face away, her pulse racing, whispering harshly under her breath that he was not there, he couldn't be.

"Don't be like that, dear Ginny. I won't harm you anymore." He said, amused by her reaction.

Ginny looked at him, breathing heavily, he had stopped by the foot of the bed, and she was barely able to articulate, fearing the meaning of his words, feeling paralysed by the fear she felt. "W-What have you done?"

"I took some energy from you." He said with the same, familiar, horrible smile. "I suppose you can feel it. I did it because I wanted to see you again and I need to talk to you."

"You speak with me every day."

"It's not quite me, after all, I exist in a notebook." He said with an unpleasant voice like he couldn't believe she didn't understand the difference between him and his Creator.

Ginny didn't answer, merely waiting for Tom to continue.

She had nothing to say to him.

Tom watched her quietly, serious, slightly tilting his head to the side. "It's odd to see you so silent, I'm not used to it. You never stopped talking." When she remained quiet, he bit his lip and smirked.

"You grew up." He observed.

"What do you want with me?" Ginny asked again, a wave of anger beginning to go through her and starting to override the horror she felt to have him there with her, just a few steps away from where she was sitting on the floor.

"Part of me is also surprised to be here, talking to you in this attic and not at Hogwarts, to recognise you at a time where I should not be able to do so." Said Tom, ignoring her question, folding his arms across his chest. "But I have been analysed the information I saved in the diary…"

"You saved?" Ginny interrupted him, starting to rise from the floor.

"That I saved, yes. Don't forget that I am the same person as the man who lives in this attic. A piece of his soul forced to meld itself into a set of memories, a piece with different objectives of the whole, but the same, nonetheless."

Ginny took a deep breath, apparently, she had forgotten.

After weeks of living with Tom on a daily basis, after what had begun to happen in the last days, she had managed to build a wall between the Tom she took with herself to Hogwarts and the one she found here. The same principle even applied to Tom Riddle and Lord Voldemort, they were the same wizard, she knew that, but they were different.

"But, as I was saying; I was very curious. How could it be? You are 50 years into the past, so how can I have such a clear memory of what happened between us? Between the time you placed the tip of your pen on my pages and the moment when you entered the Chamber for the last time?"

Biting her lip in anticipation, almost breaking the delicate skin, Ginny waited for Tom to explain what was going on, why was he out of the diary, because now she remembered, her exhaustion was the same she felt when he started to come out of the diary, back in Hogwarts. How could have she forgotten?

"What has happened here, and I suppose you will not like to hear it, is that we are connected now." Tom said, somewhat resigned, not very pleased with the meaning of his own words.

"How connected?" Ginny asked.

"Connected to the extent that our souls are interlinked. It all started when I decided to have a walk through Hogwarts."

That brought Ginny memories of waking up in her bed in the Gryffindor's Tower, still dressed in her uniform, surrounded by chicken feathers, confused and frightened by not knowing what had happened, sitting in the dark and waiting for the other girls leave for breakfast and not peek into her bed and see her like that, asking questions she had no answer to.

"As you know, possession is something common among certain types of spirits, but it doesn't leave long-term consequences." Tom put his arms behind his back again, balancing himself on his heels for a moment, looking at the rooftops of the city through the window. "But I'm not a common spirit, I am not a ghost, I am something quite different. When I touched your soul, I left an impression, a mark so to speak, it is part of the work process of a Horcrux, a soul for a soul, you should have died that day. But you didn't, so my mark never disappeared. Now? Now, we're connected on the deepest of levels. We're bonded."

"But what does that mean?" Asked Ginny, afraid.

"It means that until the end of Time, we will always find each other, like-" he tasted the word carefully, "soul mates." He paused for a moment, observing her reaction to his words. "But not exactly. I was made first of all to kill and only after that to bring life, my life, and by life, I don't mean ridiculous feelings associated with love and compassion."

"No, Tom, you're mistaken." Ginny said, her voice trembling, refusing to believe his words.

"I'm never mistaken, Ginevra." said the Horcrux. "There will always be a moment of your life in which I will appear and bring you some kind of misery, and I will do whatever it is in my power to have you, because that was my goal when I marked you, to have your soul and exchange it for mine, even if I don't realize why I want you, or what I'm doing. It is what is happening to you right now, right at this moment, in this store, with this Tom Riddle."

Ginny shook her head in disbelief, rising from the floor.

"You know my story, you know my plans, my goals, and you know that there is no room for someone like you in my life, but even so, I crossed that line. I would never do it if it weren't what I had done to you in your childhood, years in the future. I have spent all those months at your side, I was the one with whom you shared everything you could and you could not share, I wanted to see you again."

"Those red eyes…"

"It was me. I can't obviously possess my Maker the same way I did with you; I cannot hurt or change his intentions. What I did was... how should I say... Go back home." Tom laughed, amused at his own analogy. "Since I have already crossed paths with you, it allowed him to lower his walls a little, and that's why you slept here for a second time." Tom looked at the bed for a moment, before returning his eyes to her. "I was the one that wanted that."

"And what happened when you touched me for the first time? That energy? I don't mean you, but this Tom, from 1946…"

"That? Well, I'm not sure yet, and you shouldn't lose sleep over it, I believe you will need as much of it has possible for the next days." He smirked. "I think it was a side effect of time travelling and coming back to me, I realised you were here the moment that happened."

"Don't make it sound like I'm here because I want to be!" shouted Ginny, not able to restrain herself.

"That's irrelevant." Tom said rolling his eyes. "You may be here by chance, but you're here, you woke me, you woke up our little curse..." Tom crossed the distance that separated him from Ginny that slide back to the ground, hiding her face in her knees and covering her head with her arms.

"Stop!" She screamed in terror, a sob coming from her throat that was nearly closed by the panic she felt.

"You are mine, Ginevra, now and forever, and the day I finally walk through the valley of the dead, you can be sure that you will be the one by my side."

The room was suddenly silent; Ginny could hear the echoes of her own sobs in the abruptly empty room. It felt like ages before the sounds dissipated until she was only left with the sound of her tears, letting them wash away the memories of today. Today and those of long ago...

* * *

Tom found Ginny sitting at the foot of his bed, her back bent and hands between her legs, eyes fixed on the closet in front of her. "Ginevra?" He muttered, realising that she was not well.

Ginny looked at him for a moment before turning back to the closet, wiping tears from her face with the sleeve of her sweater. Tom began to wish that there were more people and more queues in the shops he had visited during the last hours while trying to find something to gift to Malfoy's mother, so that now, he wouldn't have to deal with this. "What's wrong?" Ginny slumped forward, hiding her face in her hands, her hair hiding her from him.

Walking through the attic, Tom left his bag on the desk, over his diary, and lowered himself in front of Ginny, resting his knuckles on her knee to keep his balance, and proceeded to put some strands of hair behind her ear. "Ginevra?" He called again.

Ginny took a deep breath and looked at him, curiosity in his blue eyes, framed by slightly raised eyebrows, lips closed in a thin line that could almost be of concern, but surely were not.

What was she going to say? She couldn't tell him that his Horcrux decided to attack her; that the Horcrux had told her that she belonged to him, that they were sentenced to cross their paths until the end of time; that she had spent the last hour reliving the worst moments of her life.

No.

"I really want to go home, Tom, I don't want to go to the dinner with you, I want to go home, I want to go see my family." She said, a reasonable and childish lie.

When had she become good at doing that?

Tom sat down beside her on the bed. "If you were not here, what would you be doing?" He asked, deciding to try to distract her, despite the topic being completely indifferent to him.

Ginny cleaned her face again and gave him a sad smile. "Well, if you really want to know, now I would be helping my mum and my aunt to cook, and since my family is so big we have the biggest house of the..." Ginny stopped before she could say her last name.

The minutes passed, Tom pushed his pillow against the wall, resting his back on it while listening, and Ginny crossed her legs over the bed, telling him about the routine those days brought, the confusion that kept the house busy for two days, the discussions, accidents, all the adventures. When she finished, they were almost in the dark, Tom smiled, sympathetic to what he had just been hearing, and Ginny looked away, sigh and put a lock of her hair behind her ear.

Distracted by her own talking, she didn't even notice that she had just shared something of her private life with him, for the first time since she had arrived, and he had heard her just like his Horcrux used to do. It was like she simply forgot that a part of him had terrorised her just a couple of hours before. It was the old routine again; she, spent and worn from the day's troubles, came to him with her sorrows and he listened. That was his tantalising gift, he drew her in, so faithful, so understanding. That was how he had almost destroyed her.

"I'm going to get ready for dinner." She said after a moment of silence, slowly raising from the bed and not looking at Tom, disturbed.

He watched her idly for a moment, watching her open the drawers of the dresser where she kept her clothes, trying to find something to wear. Pulling the book he had on the bedside table he began to read, feeling sleepy after such a one-sided conversation, and making a spell to light the candles around the room.

When he lowered the book to look at the clock, he got both angry and incredulous, he looked at the other side of the attic, to the closed bathroom door.

They were getting late! How was that possible?

He rose from the bed, cursing his distraction and began to strip his jacket, and then the waistcoat, leaving them on the bed, then he opened the closet and pulled the suitcase, threw into it something to sleep in and clothes for the next day, something less formal for the lunch with the Malfoys.

He took off his clothes for the party that night, and crossed the attic, entering the bathroom without knocking.

Ginny almost jumped, startled, scratching half of her face with the black eyeliner she was trying to apply. "What are you doing? I'm using the bathroom." She asked looking at Tom with her eyes wide open, not believing what he had just done.

"Yes, for an eternity! You think I didn't notice?" Tom said, taking a clean towel from one of the shelves built into the wall behind the door, putting it over his shoulder and stuck his clothes over the other towels. "Abraxas made me promise we would be there a couple of hours before the dinner started, and I hate to be late. If I was going to wait for you to exit the bathroom, we would probably be late for the dinner itself..." He argued, looking at her through the mirror's reflection while unbuttoned his shirt up to the middle of the chest, preparing to shave. "What?" He asked, looking at her angry face.

"Since when do you have the habit of entering bathrooms when your female roommates are using them?" Ginny asked, shocked by this new behaviour.

"I don't… but since what has happened in recent days, you can pretend we are…" Tom stopped and looked at her trying to decide what to say. "Brothers."

Ginny couldn't believe her hears. "You kissed me!"

"I don't care, Ginevra, stop being dramatic! Just be done with whatever you were doing and let me get ready."

"Don't try to hurry me after almost making me stick a pencil in my eye!" She said, right in her accusation.

"Like I would ever be able to make you do something against your will…" Tom muttered, applying the shaving cream to his face in small circular movements. "And by the way, you look horrible."

Ginny rolled her eyes and pushed him to the side the moment Tom was about to touch his cheek with the blade so that she could reach the mirror over the basin. "Be careful!" He told her in a low, menacing voice, looking at her through the mirror with his eyes half closed.

"Careful!?" She repeated sarcastic. "If I was not dressed, the only dinner you'd be enjoying this night was whatever they would be serving at St. Mungo's..." She said wiping the black line off her face and almost sticking her nose in the mirror to finish her makeup. "Besides, I don't look horrible, I'm not done getting ready yet..."

"Then what's up with that dress? We're going to a party, not to work." Jabbed Tom, concentrated in his reflection in the mirror.

"What's wrong with it?" Ginny asked releasing the knoll and pointed the wand at her head, trying to decide what to do with her hair, while looking at her dress for a second. It was the first thing she had put on after going shopping, back in the Cauldron.

"I've seen you with it like, five times, I thought women liked to buy new things for this kind of things."

Ginny raised an eyebrow at his comment "I didn't know you were interested in women clothes, Tom..." Ginny said sarcastically, bewitching her hair into a simple updo.

"It's a recent hobby I got, but not the clothes of all women..." He paused to slide the blade through his jaw. "Only yours."

Ginny hit him in his arm with an elbow, almost making him cut himself. "Ginevra..." He warned her again.

"Tom..."

Looking at herself in the mirror, she pulled her dress down and her sleeves up, watching Tom's reflection in the mirror. He always had an impeccable air and perfect appearance, he was also going to be Lord Voldemort, and it was odd to see him do something as mundane, as human and simple as shaving.

"You missed a spot." She said, breaking the awkward silence that had settled for a moment, turning to Tom.

He lowered the blade and looked at her, confused.

"Here." Ginny took the blade from his hand, pushed his chin up, still covered in shaving cream, and placed the blade to his throat before he could even react. Tom stopped breathing and swallowed hard, surprised, not daring to move, he looked at her from the corner of his eye, one hand gripping the sink to steady himself, the other hovering her waist.

Ginny bit her lip as she slowly slid the razor up, grazing the pulsing skin that hid his jugular. She held her breath, fingers trembled imperceptibly. At that very moment, she held his life in her hands. For the first time ever, he was a vulnerable animal between the jaws of a predator, throat bared for slaughter.

She would only need to press down and Lord Voldemort would be erased forever.

The silence hung between them.

And she lifted the blade.

She felt his fingers close around hers tightly, and he bent her wrist to drop the razor onto the counter. Her eyes never left him, and when she met his gaze, his pupils were so dilated that the blue of his eyes was barely visible. It felt like aeons before he took his hand away from hers. She looked away and turned the tap on, rinsing her fingers, before wordlessly turning it closed.

When she looked back, Tom's face was impassive. He continued to regard her with his ice cold gaze, but his eyes held the same blazing intensity they had held the morning when he kissed her.

Ginny forced a smile, wiping her fingers on the towel resting on his shoulder.

"You're welcome." she said sarcastically, making him smirk, taking a step back from her, and turning back to the mirror.

"For what? Making my whole life flash before my eyes?"

"Don't be so dramatic, Tom." Ginny said, with relief, closing the bathroom door behind her, then leant against the wood for a moment, her lips a tiny line of worry. She almost fell when Tom opened the door behind her.

"What are you doing?" He asked frowning at her.

"Nothing!" She muttered regaining her balance and looking back at him. "Don't you have to shower or something?"

Tom rolled his eyes. "Don't forget that we sleep there, bag what you will need to spend the night out and something for lunch tomorrow, we're only coming back before dinner." He said closing the door again.

"Right…" Ginny said to the door.

Going back to her dresser, she took a handbag that was offered on the house when she had shopped for her clothes and bewitched what she would need, to fit in there, then she sat on the couch reading, turning the radio on to hide the sound of the shower running in the background.

"I thought you had drowned!" She exclaimed when he came out, fully dressed, spotless and immaculate.

Tom ignored her as he passed by her to grab his coat from the wardrobe, putting the suitcase wing on his shoulder. Then he stopped in front of Ginny, holding out his hand to help her up.

"Let's go."

* * *

 **A/N:** Kudos to my betas ShirleyIAmSirius and sinsinnatus from Tumblr!


	8. Chapter 8

Tom was the first to enter the fireplace and disappear in the green flames towards the Malfoy Manor. When the fire faded back to its original form, Ginny sat in the nearest chair and took a deep breath, watching Burkes's house elf furiously attack a chicken with a knife before seasoning it and putting it in the oven. All kitchen surfaces were covered with food, there were even some dishes floating near the ceiling; it looked like Borgin was going to have the party of the year, and she was sure that everyone there would be eating better than she at the Malfoy's party.

Ginny had a bad feeling about that, but probably the feeling was due to the fact that she was feeling very tired; she was exhausted by what the Horcrux had done to her, with stealing her energy and such, even more, exhausted by what he had said. Tom Riddle, _her_ Tom Riddle, as she distinguishes him from the Horcrux and Lord Voldemort, had done an excellent job distracting her during the afternoon, but now that she was about to do something for which she was not feeling particularly motivated, what had happened during the afternoon was starting to catch up with her, weighing on her thoughts.

But that dinner... Ginny knew very well what to expect from it, the Malfoy's Christmas dinners were very popular in her time, even after Lucius Malfoy had dragged the family's name through the mud, nothing had changed in relation to it. All wizards with prominent positions in the Ministry were there, even if their blood was not that pure, but what made them so special was the true pureblood families, the "Sacred Twenty-Eight," as had written Cantankerous Nott.

Malfoy's Christmas dinners had begun shortly after the publication of Nott's book, and her family had been invited during the first years, but their insistence about distancing themselves from the rising issues of blood purity and the social differences between the pure blood and the other wizards and Muggles, plus the emergence of Grindelwald who insisted on spreading Nott and Slytherin's ideas, led to the progressive reduction of business contacts with the Weasleys, until the whole family lived in relative financial struggle, and they stopped being invited to that event, or much of anything.

 _Blood traitors_ was the term associated with her family, being the idea spread and promoted by Abraxas Malfoy everywhere he went.

 _'Life is full of ironies.'_ Ginny thought bitterly. Maybe she was looking at the problem the wrong way, perhaps it was not Tom Riddle that she should be careful about and waste time thinking about the impact of making him disappear from History. Abraxas Malfoy and his son had had a crucial role in the rise of Lord Voldemort, would Tom get to where he got without the contact network of the Malfoy family? Did Abraxas knew that Tom did not have the pure blood he claimed to possess? By the way, did Abraxas know who Tom Riddle actually was, or Tom had lied to him to ensure that Abraxas would not exclude him from his circles?

Abraxas probably didn't know, how else would his only son and heir follow in the mad footsteps of Lord Voldemort so easily?

She would never understand the relationship between Tom and Malfoy, or Tom and his Hogwarts classmates who became Death Eaters.

Ginny slowly rose from her chair, leaning against the table for a moment before taking a handful of Floo powder from the pot and throwing it into the fire.

"What happened?" Tom asked raising an eyebrow, curious about why she didn't follow him immediately. "I was about to go back for you."

"We were beginning to think that Burke was with you or something." Malfoy added, standing next to Tom, kind of looking worried.

"Nothing happened guys! The kitchen was covered with food and I had to ask the elf what were some of those dishes." Said Ginny with a smile, looking first at Tom and then Malfoy lingered a little longer over him, who was impeccably dressed in black as usual.

It was weird, she always thought that Tom would dress in black, from his robes to his shirts, but he didn't, perhaps because if he dressed that way he would look intimidating and it went against his plans. Tom, with a dark red tie, almost looked festive.

"Let me show you where you are going to sleep... well, not you Tom, you already know my house from one side to the other." Said Malfoy with a laugh, watching Ginny intensely before turning to Tom and putting his hand on his back to encourage him to walk.

When Ginny stepped into the hallway, she started to get kind of itchy. She was officially in the Malfoy Manor, it was a horrible feeling and she would have to shower for hours when she got home...

It was horrible.

Ginny remained behind the two wizards, making sure to stay a few steps away from them and ignore whatever it was what they were saying.

She was in mental agony.

The guest rooms were in the most private area of the Manor, and the family rooms in an area even more secluded, so that they were not bothered; it was there that Abraxas prepared their rooms, they were not family but Tom visited them long enough to have that privilege, and since Ginny was with him, it made no sense to put her on the other wing. That corridor had only six rooms, two of them to the Malfoys currently living in the Manor, and now two for her and Tom.

At least Malfoy had had the good sense to actually prepare two rooms and not just one, sign that he had actually abandoned the idea that Tom and she were a couple.

Tom entered his room taking his bag from his shoulder and was immediately followed by Abraxas, leaving her alone to explore her quarters.

Ginny's room was a relatively large and adorned with light colours from the woods on the floor to the fabric of the curtains. The division was dominated by the large stone fireplace on a wall and a four-poster bed in front of it. Ginny approached the bed, and took off the clothes she had tackled in her purse to sleep and to have the so said semi-formal lunch the next day, and calmly folded them before putting it on the embroidered quilt of the bed.

She was feeling even more distraught as fraternising with the Malfoy family was against all the principles the Weasley family had. There wasn't much she could do about the situation now, it was this or be in the store and raise Borgin's suspicions... but now that she thought about it, she could also have rented a room at the Leaky Cauldron.

 _'Well, it's too late for that.'_ She thought to herself.

Ginny was looking at the gardens when Abraxas and Tom entered her room.

"What do you think?" Malfoy asked with a big smile on his face, hoping to have impressed Ginny.

"It looks alright, I guess." Ginny said dryly, closing the heavy curtains that covered the window, not seeing Malfoy make an annoyed expression that made Tom cough to hide a laugh at his reaction.

Malfoy run the tip of his tongue over his lower lip looking at her, and smiled before looking at Tom. "Well, let's see where my father is, he asked me to warn him when you arrived, he wanted to talk to you about something important." He said before heading back out into the hallway.

"I hope this important talk is not another attempt of coercion to make me go work with you, Abraxas." Tom grumbled, taking a deep breath and looking bored at Malfoy.

The other wizard hesitated a moment before answering him, but Ginny cut in before he could speak.

"What is the problem with working in the Ministry of Magic?" Asked Ginny, actually curious to know what sort of excuse he had for refusing to work there.

"Well, after finishing Hogwarts with highest distinctions, I tried my luck with becoming a Defence Against the Dark Arts' teacher and wad turned down by Dippet…"

"He told him he was too young! Can you believe the old man? He really had no eye to see talent…" Interrupted Malfoy.

"And taking a small vacation to actually rest from everything, when I returned back to England, I was almost crushed with job offers, not only from the Ministry of Magic here, but also from other countries, and I also got several proposals from private families to work for them." He said dryly as if being able to choose where to work was something bad.

"Your co-worker here was one of the best students that went through Hogwarts, and not only that, but he was a school hero!" added Malfoy.

"You never told me you were a _hero_ , Tom!" Ginny blurted, trying to look excited but ending up being sarcastic because it was actually really weird to hear anyone say that Tom Riddle was a hero, rather than a mass-murdering psychopath.

"Always the humble one!" Laughed Malfoy, looking at Tom who rolled his eyes at the other wizard. "When Tom was in his sixth year, a half-giant called... What was the name, Tom?"

Tom looked at Malfoy with raised eyebrows and wide-open eyes putting his hands in his pockets, trying to remember the name. "Hmm... Hagrid, I think. Something Hagrid."

"Yes, that! Anyway, this huge guy named Hagrid, clearly out of place at Hogwarts, being half a monster and such... but what I was saying is that during that year, this half-giant got a highly dangerous creature as a pet and let it roam free in Hogwarts like it was some kind of cat! Several students were attacked, one died, and he almost had the school year cancelled!" They were going down the stairs to the ground floor as Malfoy spoke.

"Yes, Tom told me the other day that there was an accident with a Basilisk an-"

"But he didn't tell you the part where he was the one to stop the half-giant and repel his monster into the Forbidden Forest." Malfoy interrupted her, looking way too happy then he should and quite pleased that Ginny was finally giving him some attention.

"No, he _didn't_ tell me that." Ginny hoped that her face was expressing curiosity and surprise and not the fury that was boiling inside. She loved Hagrid, her brother loved Hagrid, Harry went to see him every Sunday to have lunch with him at Hogwarts... How did Malfoy dare to speak about Hagrid like that?

Ginny couldn't wait for the opportunity of punching his stupid face to finally arise.

"But that's what happened, he even received a trophy… a special award for services to the school." Said Malfoy giving a lyrical intonation to the name of the award. "What did you do with it?" He asked Tom.

"I left it at school, in the trophy room." Tom said with a shrug, indifferent.

Ginny exchanged a look with him, making him tilt his head slightly to the side with a small smile on his lips.

"Well, it's nice to know that I'm working with someone so important..." She remarked. "But you still haven't explained why you don't want to work for the Ministry."

"Honestly, it's because I'm tired." Said Tom. "I finished Hogwarts under enormous pressure to be the best of the best, half of the Ministry was preparing to make me jump through the hierarchy, some even asked if I saw myself as the Minister of Magic in the future."

"Really?" Ginny was surprised, of course,she knew he was very smart, she knew what were the real reasons he had refused to work for the Ministry of Magic, but she had no idea that he had been pressured in that way. Ginny still remembered how the seven years had been hard, with all those exams, those important decisions and she was not even thinking about the stress that was to go back to Hogwarts after the war, with the castle still under reconstruction and having to walk over the spot where Fred died.

"I decided that I needed to do other things, needed rest after those exams..." Tom shook his head. "I almost had to beg to Borgin to let me work with them, _"You have too many qualifications."_ he told me. Now, I do like what I do, I'm quite good at it in fact, and it leaves me free to do other things without the burden of being responsible for something actually important."

"Oh! You're right!" Exclaimed Malfoy. "I had almost forgotten that you got top marks on everything didn't you? Nott told me he barely saw you for like 3 months." Abraxas was a year older than Tom and had left Hogwarts earlier than him.

"Yes, that's right." Tom laugh. "I still can't believe I did that; I feel quite lucky to be alive now."

They had stopped at a door in the middle of the east wing. Malfoy was the first to enter and waited for Tom and Ginny to pass too close the library door behind them.

Mr Malfoy was sitting cross-legged with a book in his lap by the huge stone fireplace ornamented with a scene of a battle between wizards and Muggles. The fact that he only rose his eyes from his book when his son called him, said everything that could be said about that wizard.

At least, the Malfoys seemed to have some good taste when it came to libraries, the walls were lined with books, and some particularly beautiful volumes were open through tables spread around the room.

Abraxas' father shook hands with Tom with a smile and then took a moment to look at Ginny, lingering a little more in her hair, not giving her more than a smirk.

 _'Rude.'_ Ginny thought.

Malfoy sat back and made them a sign to do the same.

Tom had been correct, what Malfoy's father spoke of was a position he had waiting for him at the Ministry.

To hear Mr Malfoy speaking was something almost supernatural, the way he articulated the words, he expressed himself, the arguments he used... It became obvious where Abraxas and Lucius had got their way with words to make Ministers resign and influence Hogwarts's administrative board.

Tom was unmoved by the wizard's words, he had a friendly smile on his lips and was listening carefully the arguments of the other wizard without actually paying attention to him. She seemed to be the only one, in that room, to realise that.

She was starting to see how Tom had used the Malfoys to his advantage, the other wizard was just talking, too in love with the sound of his own voice to care about who was listening.

Maybe it was not the way they spoke that influenced other wizards Ginny thought… maybe it was just the money they paid to have what they wanted.

Ginny slowly rose from the chair where she was sitting, bored with what was going on and creeped out by her thoughts regarding the Malfoys. She decided to have a look at the books displayed around the room. She stood by an open manuscript on a podium on the far wall the room, she was about to touch the intricate golden illustration of the page when Abraxas suddenly appeared beside her, startling her.

"It's not a good idea to touch that... the book is almost a thousand years old." He said in a whisper, near her ear, placing a hand on the curve of her back. "Have I told you that you look remarkable in this dress?"

"No, but thank you for the kind compliment, Abraxas." said Ginny, uncomfortable with Malfoy's proximity, but when she tried to push his arm away, Abraxas let his hand slide down Ginny's arm to hold her hand gently between his long, thin fingers. He looked at her for a moment before smiling and pulling her hand up to his lips, placing a small kiss on her skin.

"I'm glad you came."

"Right..." Ginny had nothing to say. Malfoy dropped his hand and Ginny flexed her fingers before crossing her arms over her chest, trying to ward off the unpleasant feeling of Malfoy's touch.

Abraxas gave her a tour through the library, stopping in front of all the books that were displayed in the room, describing what he knew about each one of them, trying to put an arm around Ginny's waist whenever they stopped, infuriating her. She would have slapped his hand if his father wasn't there.

They were looking at the last book displayed in the library when Mr Malfoy got up from his chair with a slight frown on his face that seemed to express some frustration for not being able to convince Tom to accept the place in the Ministry.

Saying their farewells to him, the three returned to Abraxas' office, where he served them a glass of firewhisky.

"It's a shame that my father did not convince you to join me at the Ministry, Tom." Said Malfoy, hiding an amused smile behind his glass, it was not the first time he told him that.

"But why do you work at the Ministry, Abraxas?" Ginny asked him, looking at the ice she was stirring inside her glass before looking at him. "From the looks of this house, you shouldn't have to work."

Abraxas smiled at her enigmatically. "Family tradition."

"Oh..."

"My family made its fortune centuries ago, but one time, one of my ancestors almost managed to ruin everything. He loved to have fun and spent most of his life doing exactly that and being an ass to the rest of the family, including his sons while accumulating lots of debt. His wife complained to their eldest son, and heir and he were already fed up with his father because the allowance he gave him was barely enough to eat and he had to actually work to live." Malfoy got up to refill his glass. "When he took control of the family business he managed to pay the debts and even restore a small part of the original fortune thanks to the experience he gained while working in the Ministry. To prevent that any of his descendants did the same his father did, when he died, he left a curse, forcing all the family heirs to work a minimum of seven years before getting into the family business, or something horrible would happen."

"Like what?" asked Ginny.

"He did not say, and we don't want to find out." Said Malfoy.

"That seems wise." Ginny finished drinking her glass and placed it on the desk.

They fell on an awkward silence after that, with Malfoy looked into his glass thoughtfully and Tom with his legs crossed, tried to balance his glass on his knee, Ginny took a deep breath looking around.

Malfoy summoned an elf and asked him to bring them something to eat.

"Shouldn't we eat with the other guests?" Asked Ginny between mouthfuls, making Abraxas laugh. "It depends on how hungry you may be..." He looked at Tom, who chewed quietly and dragged the food from one side to the other side of his plate, taciturn, not returning his gaze. "The dinner part kind of fell out of costume a few years after it started, despite the fact that we serve food, it is always advised that you have dinner before coming."

They finished eating in silence, and Ginny couldn't stop herself from constantly looking at Tom, she didn't like to see him so quiet, it didn't seem like him, it made her feel like he was plotting something evil and horrible. She gave him a slight touch on the foot he had in the air with the tip of her red shoe and leant forward to get his attention, a smile on her lips. "Are you alright?"

Tom looked at her and smiled back. "Yes, why?"

"Nothing..." Tom turned his attention to his plate, continuing to eat, ignoring her since he thought she wasn't going to add anything else to her statement, but she did "You're lying..." said Ginny.

"What? No!" Tom looked at her confused, but actually starting to feel unnerved by the ease she had in knowing when he was lying. This kind of things only added fuel to his idea of her knowing him in the future, that they had been close for a long period of time for her to be able to tell when he was lying when no one else could…

Even Dumbledore couldn't tell the difference, and he was sure she was not using any spell or potion on him. Or was she? No… they weren't even in the store; he was letting his paranoia get to him.

"You just did it again." Ginny accused him. "Why aren't you alright?"

"Ginevra, nothing is going on, why would I lie to you about this?"

"I don't know, but you are not telling the truth."

Tom took a deep breath, angry, and looked at her with a frown. Ginny looked back, letting show how annoyed she felt by the fact that he was hiding something, since those silences always hid information that she should better know, for her own wellbeing.

Malfoy across the table looked alternately from one to the other.

"Are you two alright-"

"YES!" They shouted in unison looking at him, causing him to drop his fork on his plate and raise his hands defensively in front of him, rolling his eyes.

When they finished eating, Malfoy took them to the balcony, his office overlooked the front of the Manor and the three bent over the railing, watching the guests who had decided to arrive by Portkey, make a spectacular entrance with their expensive gowns and robes billowing in the cold wind of the late afternoon.

Ginny began to tremble with cold, the dress, showing her shoulders, did not offer enough protection against the settling low temperatures, so she rubbed her arms trying to warm up but in vain. Unexpectedly, a cloak fell over her shoulders and Ginny looked at Tom surprised by the delicate gesture, but he was looking at Malfoy, his face painful expressionless that meant he was not happy, which made her look at the other wizard, that hold a warm smile on his lips and was just wearing his coat.

"Thank you, Abraxas." She said, turning back to the railing, pulling Malfoy's cloak closer against herself, making his scent on the fabric, strong and manly but not in a good way, irritate her nose.

When they got bored and a good amount of guests arrived at the party, they walked back into the office, Ginny returned Malfoy's cloak to him and he dropped it on the back of his chair and Tom did the same with his. Walking down the stairs in the middle of the two wizards, she looked at Malfoy for a moment and he smiled at her, but then Tom caught her attention by lighting sliding his fingers down her back for an instant.

Ginny crossed her arms over her chest the moment they entered the ballroom where the party was happening, feeling trapped between a rock and a hard place and feeling like screaming until her head exploded.

'This is stupid.' She thought bitterly. 'I can't believe this is happening.' She repeated a few times inside her head. It was more than obvious that Abraxas was very interested in her with that invitation for dinner, his insistence for her to come to this party, those creepy Malfoy smiles… But Tom… that was her fault, no matter what the Horcrux had said that afternoon, she refused to believe he would be interested in her if she didn't spend so much time with him, and Ginny was sure none of them wanted to be with her for her personality alone… maybe Tom, but if the Horcrux was indeed right, his interest was more disturbing then Malfoy's, a lot worse than whatever he was thinking.

Either way, she was now part of a ridiculous love triangle and she wanted out. Of all the things that could happen, this was so far the worse and it made no sense.

This was not one of those Muggle films that her father forced everybody to see, this was the real world.

Maybe she should have risked it and stayed in the store with Burke, maybe she could leave the party unnoticed and rent a room at the Leaky Cauldron for the night.

She took a deep breath. The most important thing now was to stay calm. If she remained calm the night would pass in an instant and it will be the Christmas day where she could enjoy a quiet and pleasant morning... with Abraxas, and then with him and his parents during lunch.

Ginny took a deep breath again.

The Universe truly hated her.

The three mingled among the guests, a band on a small stage played the popular wizardry music of the time, and some couples had already taken a part of the room to dance, moving to the sound of the melody between laughs and complicit smiles.

Mrs Malfoy suddenly appeared beside them putting a hand on Abraxas' shoulder to draw his attention to her and sending a smile in Tom's direction, who smiled back. "A friend of yours Tom?" She asked with a wink when she noticed Ginny, who had to struggle not to roll her eyes.

"A co-worker." Corrected Tom gesturing towards her. "Ginevra."

"It's a pleasure, Mrs Malfoy." Greeted Ginny, trying to be friendly.

"The pleasure is all mine dear." Said the other witch without looking at her, her attention drifting around the room while she grabbed a glass of wine from one of the several trays that were floating around the room with drinks and food. "You'll have to forgive me, but the other guests need my attention." She said walking away, already reaching out her hands to a wizard near them.

As soon as Mrs Malfoy walked away, her husband appeared to take his son with him, saying he needed to introduce him to some people.

That left Ginny and Tom alone and in a very awkward silence, with the other guests dancing only a few feet from them, but Ginny would kill Tom right there and then if he dared to invite her to dance.

They took a glass from a tray that floats by them in that moment, but stayed in silence, she didn't even bother to glance in his direction.

"I don't suppose you want-"

"Please don't say it." Ginny interrupted him, shrugging her shoulders, mortified.

This was not happening.

"I just wanted to be sure." Tom said, raising a hand for her to stay calm and smiling, amused at her discomfort.

"You already said too much." Ginny muttered through gritted teeth, making Tom laugh. "And you were right this afternoon..." He looked at her confused, drinking a sip of wine, before turning his attention to the dance floor waiting for her to continue. "I should have bought a dress; I'm not dressed for this kind of thing." She said, looking at the other witches, with long, elegant and colourful gowns.

Tom leant against Ginny, putting an arm around her to rest a hand on her waist and tilting slightly down to her ear, he murmured, "But this one's one of my favourites." Ginny elbowed him roughly in the ribs, rolling her eyes but he did not pull away, despite having to catch his breath for a second, keeping his hand in place, moving his thumb slowly up and down her waist, making her shiver with the intimacy that he decided to impose on her. "Let's go sit by the fireplace, I can see some people I know from here."

Ginny took a deep breath as he pulled away, annoyed by her reaction to his closeness and followed after him, trying to avoid colliding with wizards who danced between them and their destination. But before they crossed the dance floor, a witch called Tom.

"Tom!" She called, making him turn around.

"You..." Tom smiled, surprised. "I thought I'd never see you again!" He said approaching the witch and accepting her hug.

"Such a surprise!" She said pulling away from him but living her hands on his shoulders looking at him with a kind, nostalgic smile.

"Where have you been?" Asked Tom, genuinely curious, as she stepped back. "I missed your company in Potions and our chess games in the library." That made her laughed. "Ginevra, the classmate I told you about some days ago."

Ginny smiled warmly at her, feeling actually sorry for her, because she was smiling at him in a way that clearly told how she felt about seeing Tom again, and he was the one that almost killed her.

It was unbelievable how Tom could speak with her so naturally, how he could smile and greet someone that he purposely placed in danger, that he nearly killed, and not even show any discomfort regarding her presence.

The witch gave them a short summary of what had happened in her life since leaving Hogwarts and was quite surprised to learn he had chosen to work at the Borgin & Burkes after school.

"I always thought you'd go to the Ministry!" She exclaimed. "That store doesn't fit you at all!"

"Maybe it's true, but I decided to have a simpler career, I hope to be able to open my own business in a couple more years." He said.

"But the Borgin & Burkes... is it safe? You are not involved in... you know... criminal things?" She asked uncertain, lowering her voice.

"Of course not, but just because I didn't want to work in the Ministry, it doesn't mean I don't want to retire by my 40's." He answered with a sly smile and a wink, making her laugh and give him a pat on the shoulder.

"Will you dance with me?" She asked, looking down to follow the movement of her hands smoothing the folds of her dress.

"Maybe another time." Said Tom pretending to be disappointed and stretching a hand to Ginny, who automatically hold it in hers without thinking about what she was doing, and he pulled her to his side. "We were on our way to find some friends by the fireplace."

Tom was not much taller than her since she got her height from her father instead of her mother, but it was enough to make her look up to be able to see the look he cast on his former schoolmate.

When she said goodbye to Tom, it was likely that this was the first and last time he would see her again. Ginny released his hand and crossed her arms over her chest, looking at him coldly.

"You know you hurt her, right?" She asked in an accusing tone, which made him roll his eyes and turns his back to her, starting to walk. "It was cheap of you to use me like that. Who do you think you are?"

Tom suddenly stopped and looked back, acutely annoyed and approached Ginny with a couple of firm strides, making her resist the urge to step back.

"You're complaining about me? You did exactly the same." He said pressing his finger on her arm. "It doesn't feel good now, does it?" Tom pulled away and put his hands in his pockets, watching her strangely.

Ginny looked at him in surprise; he was right about that.

"How can you compare the two things? She only asked to dance with you!"

"Well, maybe I really don't like to dance or…" He stepped closer to her and put a hand on the small of her back before doing half a turn to the pace of the other dancers around them. "I only want to dance with you."

Ginny immediately stepped back from his hold and covered her eyes with one hand. "Let's just go find your friends." She was horrified by what he had just said and just wanted him to stop and start walking to the damn fireplace, she was already regretting even speaking about the subject.

That almost counted as dancing and she would never be able to recover from the fact that she danced at a Malfoy Party, even worse, she danced with Lord Voldemort… it was almost as bad as kissing him.

The couches and armchairs spread around the warmth of the huge marble fireplace were full of wizards that risen to greet Tom when he arrived, freeing a more or less central chair in relation to others for him. Ginny took a deep breath, disturbed by their demonstration of reverence towards Tom and the fact that she was ignored and no one offered her a place to sit. The jerks. That would have left her fairly offended in other circumstances, but since they looked like Death Eaters, she would never dare to be offended by them, she wouldn't even care.

Resigned, she walked towards Tom making him stop talking and look at her, surprised for a moment, also catching the attention of the wizards around him. However, Ginny merely sat on Tom's armchair's arm looking undisturbed by the stares, and acted like she belonged there, she crossed her legs, shifting her attention to the fireplace and ignored them.

She had to hold on to Tom's shoulder for support when a wizard suddenly cut off in front of her. She recognised him as one of Tom's classmates who had practically forced her to drink that night in the Cauldron, but his name was eluding her. Tom slightly rolled his shoulder to encourage her to take her hand from him and ignored her when she stood up with a smile on her lips.

"You don't know my name, do you?" He asked with a fun and sincere smile, walking towards the large glass doors to the garden. "It's alright, though, it's usually like this when a knight has to save the damsel in distress."

"Was I in danger?" Asked Ginny amused, accepting the arm he offered to her.

"Yes! You're almost dying of boredom." He laughed at his own joke. "Well, last time, you called me Nott, I suppose now you can call me by my first name..."

"Nott is enough, let me memorise one name at a time, okay?" Ginny said, patting his arm with a smile. "And you did very well in saving me from there, thank you."

Nott, from the Nott family, related to the men who wrote the "Sacred Twenty-Eight", that doomed her family, actually made a pleasant company and talked to her about normal things, like his very big family, so it was alright, maybe this Nott was not the one that supported Tom in his madness in the future.

The gardens were her favourite part of the Malfoy Manor so far, they had invested as much work outside of the house as in the ballroom, or perhaps more if she was sincere, as they had cleared all the snow from that area and revived the plants. It was snowing, but the snow crystals didn't reach them, melting and disappearing when they entered in contact with the spell that held the cloud of warm air near the ground and allowed the guests to walk in the garden without their robes and not freeze.

Nott was talking about that time when Malfoy took Tom and him to his summer house in France when Abraxas himself appeared behind them, an arrogant smirk on his lips and reached a hand towards Ginny, like now he was the one saving her from Nott's boring company, but Ginny did not move to accept it, keeping her hand around Nott's arm and making the wizard look at her for a moment when she gave him a squeeze.

Ginny really was not feeling like leaving Nott to go with him.

"How can I help you Abraxas?" She asked dryly.

"I need to talk to you." Malfoy gathered his hand, controlling a grimace of irritation.

"Can't we talk later? Nott was showing me your garden and I really don't feel like going back inside."

"I promise to be fast, and it's important." Malfoy said with a trembling smile. Ginny clenched her lips into a thin line, annoyed. Nott, not wanting to anger his friend, walked away with a quick farewell, and Ginny crossed her arms the moment he turned his back to them, waiting for Malfoy to tell her what had brought him there, but he said nothing, merely smiling at her in a strange way, a strand of his blond hair partly covering an eye.

"So?" Said Ginny, trying to encourage him to spit it out.

"I want to dance with you."

"You told me you wanted to talk." She accused him with a sigh.

"I lied." Malfoy offered simply, with a smirk and shrugged.

Ginny rolled her eyes and walked around Malfoy towards the house, she had no patience for these things and for drunk Malfoys, she stopped in the doorway, looking at the tall clock at her side, noting that it was a reasonable hour to go to bed. She swept the room with a look and found Tom in the same place that she had left him. She still had a vague idea of where was her room, so she just wanted to tell him she was going to sleep and then try not to get lost on her way there.

She was walking around the dancers when Malfoy suddenly pulled her to him, moving to the sound of the music. He had rested a hand on her lower back and the other held hers in the air, to close to her then he should, when she tried to stop moving and get away from him, he spun, making her stumble on her own feet.

"That wasn't so hard now, was it?" Asked Malfoy in her hear, clearly amused.

"Are you happy? Are you happy now that you got what you wanted? " asked Ginny with venom in her voice, feeling disgusted by his proximity, smelling the scent of alcohol on his breath.

"Well…" He hesitated for a moment. "I suppose I am." Ginny rolled her eyes and stopped dancing, and this time, she did not stumble which forced Malfoy to stop as well. "I'm too tired, Abraxas, and I want to go to sleep, thank you for this _dance_." She said, pulling his arm from her to be able to walk away from him

"Go to sleep? But it's so early!" He exclaimed, confused by what she was saying.

"Well, but I'm tired, I was on my way to tell Tom I was going to bed when you showed up." Malfoy slightly shook his head, before looking at her with a small smile.

"If you want to go to bed, I'll take you to your room." Said Malfoy, seeing her looking around for the fireplace and Tom, since Malfoy had dragged her to the other side of the ballroom in the small moment he had touched her.

"There is no need for that, Abraxas, I am perfectly able to find my way without your help." Ginny finally saw the fireplace wall and started walking towards him, but Malfoy laid a hand on her shoulder and made her stop.

"It's not that I doubt your sense of orientation Ginny, but that wing is bewitched and to be able to enter, you must be accompanied by Tom or me." He said honestly.

"Really?" Ginny doubted his words.

"Yes... It is a private area of the house; only authorised people can go there." He said.

"Right." As much as it cost her, that excuse made sense. "Then I'll ask Tom to take me there, I don't want to keep you away from your duties as the host." Ginny turned around, trying _again_ , to get away from Malfoy and into the relative safety that Tom's presence offered her.

Malfoy stopped her again. "Don't worry about it, my father will take care of the guests and when I return I will warn Tom that you that you went to bed."

Ginny couldn't give him any other excuse without being rude, and she was also kind of taken out of guard when he mentioned his father, because it made her remember Draco and how he spoke about Lucius in the same way, and that made her thought about home. She followed him through the ballroom doors into the great hall and remained a few steps behind him all the way to the beginning of bedroom's wing. She tried to feel some sort of spell when they entered the hall but couldn't notice anything and began to think he had lied, again.

They stopped in front of her bedroom door and Ginny turned the elegant glass knob, opened the door and entered. "Thank you for bringing me here, Abraxas, I will see you tomorrow." She said, but Malfoy did not answer her, glancing at the floor, they had made the trip in silence and now he was not returning her farewell, and it made Ginny start to feel uncomfortable. "Okay, bye Abraxas." Ginny waved her hand and started to slowly close the door, giving him time to say goodbye if he wanted so before he was forced to leave her alone by social etiquette.

When the door was about to close, Abraxas put his hand on it. "Aren't you inviting me in?" He asked, with dull eyes from the alcohol and a smile on his lips that matched the meaning of his question.

"Excuse me?" Ginny pretended not to understand and tried to close the door.

Malfoy didn't give her an answer, he merely pushed the door open and entered the room, making her walk several steps back, then he closed the door behind his back before glancing at her, annoyed by the fact that she tried to keep him outside.

Ginny had dropped her purse to the floor when he forced his entry and with it, her wand, without breaking their eye contact, Ginny gave a couple of side steps to her purse. Malfoy noticed what she was doing and advanced, and she automatically stepped back, feeling absolute horror when her back hit the bedpost. Before she had time to move away, he was on top of her, pinning her against the engraved wood with his body, pushing her into it to the point of hurting her back.

His lips were on hers before she could scream for him to stop, biting her lower lip to try to make her open her mouth so he could deepen the kiss, his hands roaming her back, one finding her bottom and pulling her hips to his.

Her body jolted in response, writhing in horror, the smell of alcohol on his breath overpowering and sickening her.

She tried to push him, but he was heavier and taller than her, she could feel his muscles contract and stretch underneath his clothes, a sign that he had played Quidditch at Hogwarts.

But so had she.

When Ginny felt Malfoy's hand slide through her leg and start to pull her dress up, she focused on her problem again. Taking advantage of the fact that he was distracted by trying to find the clasp of her dress, Ginny managed to make him take a few steps back.

"Stop this!" She shouted, but all he did was start laughing.

"Oh come on Ginny, you want this, you're just playing hard to get. You did just the same downstairs with the dancing, but then you danced." He said pushing her back into the bedpost pulling on her hair, undoing it, Malfoy pulled a lock, fascinated by its colour in the dim light from the fireplace. She tried to push him back with the force of both hands now, but he didn't move, it just made him grasp a handful of her hair and pull her head back to give him access to her neck while his other hand slide through her side to pull her hips against him, to make her feel how hard he was, even with all the layers of clothing between them, in a way to show her that he, a Malfoy, really wanted her, despite that he not knowing anything about her blood or caring about her lack of values for living in such way with Riddle. Her body writhed underneath him, struggling to get away.

Ginny grabbed onto his arm, trying to make him release her hair, but Malfoy seemed not to feel anything more than the way she moved against him to try to free herself from his hands. He leant down, licking his lips and gave her a quick kiss, tracing her jaw with his tongue, stopping by her ear and Ginny could hear his breath, hot and fast against the shell of her ear.

He pulled her dress up again, hoisting her leg up with strength, digging his nails into her skin, making his way up to her hip, Ginny was trying to pull his hand away from him, but every time she was close, he would pull her hair, causing her to cry out.

Malfoy managed to get to where he wanted, grabbing her underwear from around her hip, he pulled, breaking the seam of the fabric. He took his hand around her, making the piece of cloth fall to the ground around her red shoes and pull her even closer to him.

"Malfoy, _you piec-_ " Ginny said, ignoring the pain in her scalp to take his hand from her before he decided to move it to the other side, but she wasn't able to finish what she was saying or taking his hand off her because his teeth dug into the sensitive skin of her neck, making her scream with pain.

Malfoy finally released her hair and leant back, not taking his hand from her hip, he cleaned his lips with the back of his hand and looked at her, admiring his brand on her. Ginny, feeling naked with her dress half raised, hurt from his bite and furious on his behaviour, found the strength to push him away far enough to slap him across the face, leaving a red mark on his pale skin.

Ginny pulled her dress down while he touched his face, lightly sliding his fingers through the imprint of her hand with his fingertips, looking shocked by her sudden action.

He gritted his teeth, ran his hand through his hair, and looked at Ginny.

By the way, he tensed his shoulders, she thought he was going to start yelling at her, that he was going to hit her, but he didn't do any of those things, and she tensed, ready to defend herself. She grabbed her by the arm and pulled her towards him before pushing her into the bed.

The sound of her blood rushed in her ears, and she bounced back against the mattress, enough for her to recoil from it and deliver a sharp, vicious punch to his nose, feeling it break against her fist.

Malfoy automatically fell to the ground, screaming in pain, screaming at her, but Ginny didn't stay to see what he was going to do next, she needed to get out of there, she needed to get off that house, but she didn't want to go back to the store and have to deal with Burke and whoever his guests were alone, she needed to take Tom with her. She grabbed her purse and stepped into the hall and looked around, she turned back to enter the room again, she wanted her clothes, she didn't want to leave nothing there, nothing that Malfoy could touch, but Abraxas was beginning to rise from the floor, so instead she went into Tom's room and grabbed his suitcase, putting the wing on her shoulder and went back into the hallway

She had to make sure Tom understood she needed to go back to the store.

Closing the door of her bedroom and not glancing towards Malfoy for the second time she started running to the stairs and back to the party while trying to smooth the torn fabric of her dress. Ginny stopped on the top of the stairs to the hall and ran her fingers through her hair, pulling it over Malfoy's bite and trying to regain some composure before entering the ballroom, she didn't want to draw anyone's attention to her.

She didn't even want to imagine what would happen if some of those guests found out what had just happened.

Ginny passed swiftly among the other guests, focused on getting to the fireplace, where she hoped he still was.

She had to stop herself from running to him, she really wanted to get out of there as soon as possible, despite being pretty sure that Malfoy would never follow her there with a broken nose and a face covered in blood.

Ginny didn't want to risk it, she never imagined he would do something like what he did, but on the other hand, what had happened was her fault, his stupid son thought it was a good idea to give a Horcrux to an 11-year-old girl, he had learned that from someone! She should have known!

The Universe hated her but she had been foolish herself, what was she thinking? She should have kept herself away from him, she should have told him that she was in fact in a relationship with Tom. If it was enough to keep Borgin away it should be enough to Malfoy as well, and she should be returning to her own time soon enough, it certainly would do no harm if Malfoy thought that.

She dropped the suitcase on Tom's feet, calling his and Nott's attention to her.

Tom looked at the bag on the floor confused, and then up to her. He was frowning, annoyed, and then, then he noticed her appearance, her tussled hair and disturbed expression.

Then he noticed the blood on the curve of her neck, under her hair and a muscle under his eye twitched.

Ginny touched her neck with two fingers, massaging the bruise with her fingertips and he closed his lips into a thin line. She could see him holding back a cold rage. She lowered her hand and looked at its back, stained with blood.

She should have taken the other hand to her neck instead of the one she used to break Malfoy's nose.

"I want to go home, Tom." Ginny said quietly, giving a small smile to Nott that looked slightly shocked at her, realising what had probably happened after he had left her with Malfoy.

"Of course." Was Tom's answer. He rose from the chair, pulling the suitcase with him. "Let us go." They didn't say goodbye to Nott, but even if they had, the other wizard would not have answered since he was still staring at Ginny's with wide eyes and a half open mouth when they turned away.

Tom put his arm around Ginny's shoulders, pulling her to him in a protective gesture. The last thing she wanted was to be so close to other of her problems, but she put an arm around him anyway, clutching to his coat with her wounded hand, seeking the comfort of the only person that could, unfortunately, offer her some support.

They crossed the ballroom and the wall with quick steps into a small door in the far wall of the room, into a hallway that went in to the kitchen.

Tom laid the bag on the table and asked for one of the elves to bring him a clean cloth and a bowl of fresh water. He raised her chin with a firm hand and touched the hound with his fingertips, pressing down to see if there still was some blood running.

"I did not expect him to have the audacity to do this to you, Ginevra." He said, accepting the cloth that the young elf stretched him. The elf was wrapped in a dirty pillowcase, and in Ginny's eyes he looked a lot like Dobby, and she absentmindedly wanted to ask him his name, but Tom started to talk again. "Especially when he knows that you live with me."

"Living with you is not the same as being with you, but don't worry, he's not going to come back after me." She said hissing when he pressed the cloth too hard against her neck. "Be careful there…"

"Oh… you're right about that Ginny, he will not go after you ever again..." Tom muttered between his teeth. Ginny put a hand on his arm causing him to stop and look at her.

"Don't you dare do anything to him." Tom returned his attention to her wound.

"Why do you think I will do anything to him?" He said quietly, not liking the threat in her words, but not sharing his feelings regarding that. "Sometimes I've the impression you think I'm some sort of horrible person, only interesting in harming others…" He smiled tightly, his eyes narrowed and cold.

"I'm not joking, Tom!" Ginny was getting exasperated and was not in the mood to deal with him, and she ignored the last thing he said. "Forget this happened!" She exclaimed.

"Ginevra..." Tom also was in no mood to argue, all he wanted to do was exactly what Ginny was telling him not to do; he wanted to lock her in his attic, where she would be safely away, return to the Manor, find Malfoy and show him what happened to those who touched what was his.

"Do this for me, Tom." Ginny said putting her bloodied hand on his face, pausing his work and thoughts. His blue eyes were expressionless, but Ginny could see beyond the mask he was wearing, she could see how angry he was with Malfoy, she could see how much he wanted to hurt the other wizard. "Tom, please... for me."

Tom did not answer immediately. He held the hand that Ginny had placed on his face and looked away, he dipped the cloth into the bowl, watching the blood taint the clean water and started to clean the blood from her hand, noting how some of the blood was hers.

Ginny squeezed his fingers. "I want to hear you say that you're not going after him, Tom... please, promise me that you'll let this die here." She was getting desperate.

"I'll try."

Ginny took a deep breath closing her eyes, it was the best she could get from him, and it was better than nothing.

She released his hand and grabbed his vest, leaving her hand rest against his heart.

"Thank you."

"Let's just go back to the store before I change my mind." Said Tom, grabbing his suitcase from the table, ignoring the nagging voice in the back of his mind that was wondering why he accepted…

When they stepped into the store itself instead of the kitchen, neither one of them were ready to be welcomed by the large table of laughing wizards and witches that Burkin had invited to dinner. Most of them had a rather suspicious and criminal look, and for some reason, they could hear in the background some children laughing and it made no sense that any of those people would have any children and even bring them there. Among the guests were the Borgins, with Mrs Borgin and her swollen stomach surrounded by most of the witches in the room.

Burke rose from his seat, laughing louder than all the others, "What happened Riddle? The Malfoys Manor didn't give you enough privacy?" He shouted to be heard above the noise, making the other wizards laugh harder, obviously everyone knew Tom, and everyone was had a fair chair of wine.

Tom and Ginny exchanged a look, and he turned to the other wizard with a laugh, pulling her against him, instantly entering their lie. Ginny pulled her hair over her shoulder, making sure it would hide Malfoy's bite and smile embarrassedly at Burke, but when Mrs Borgin raised from her chair holding on one of her friends' shoulders with a photographic camera on her hand, Ginny grabbed Tom' coat with force, making him look at her confused for a moment before allowing her to see a wry smile on his lips.

"Are you afraid of having your picture taken, Ginny?" He asked near her hair, it didn't surprise him if she didn't want to take a photo.

"Don't be silly…" Was her cold answer, but she couldn't help herself but hold on to him when Mrs Borgin stopped in front of them, the view of the other witch overpowered his use of her nickname, that always had something to it.

"You two look so adorable!" Said Mrs Borgin preparing the camera with her swollen fingers. "I'm going to take your photo!"

Ginny began to feel sick, this was not happening, she needed air, needed to get out of that tobacco and alcohol blighted room, but the time was starting to slow down, and all she could feel was Tom moving to take her hand from the back of his jacket and step away from her to drop the suitcase on the closest armchair.

Tom grabbed her arm to guide her hand into the crook of his arm as he spoke to Mrs Borgin about it being time for them to have a photo together. Ginny smiled at the camera as she pointed it in their direction, feeling uncomfortable and awkward. Thinking there couldn't be anything worse than having her picture taken in 1946 with her hand stuck on the crook of Lord Voldemort's arm, the wizards around them started to sing _Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!_ , and she wished a hole would open beneath her feet and swallow her whole.

Damned the hour he stepped on the store when Burke was grabbing her skirt, she should have just cursed him and be done with it.

That decision marked the beginning of a spiral of bad things she wished that had never happened.

Ginny was thrown to the present when the camera flashed as he pulled her to him theatrically, pressing their lips together in a swift, sudden motion, his arms winding around her and lifting her easily, her feet well above the ground. Riddle's flair for the dramatic went over exceptionally well with the crowd, making the room break out in laughs and whistles.

Tom curled his fingers around hers, bending to the side to grab his suitcase up, before pulling her to the stairs and into the attic.

They stopped at the top of the stairs, by the locked door with the new spells Tom created to prevent Mrs Borgin and her skeleton key to open it again without his knowledge.

Ginny leant against the doorjamb, letting her head fall against the wood, exhausted, she wanted him to hurry up and open the door and be done with it. But Tom looked at her, his face expressionless for a moment. Stepping closer to her, he sighed and pushed her hair over her shoulder. Ginny closed her eyes when his cold fingers touched the red and swollen skin marked by Malfoy's teeth, she lost herself for a moment in the feeling of his fingers on her, his all too familiar smell.

She lost herself in the memories of his ever presence during that first year in Hogwarts, the calm summer before that on The Burrows rooftop and their tireless conversations through the diary, how he made her feel special and important

Everything was so innocent.

When life was hard, and she did not keep herself busy, she would catch herself drifting to those times, to those memories of a simpler time before she went to Hogwarts.

She was sure she would miss him now as well, miss his comforting presence, she never dared to imagine it would be like this, a store lightened by candles in cold winter mornings, sitting by his side, hearing the sound of his pen scratching the paper's surface over his steady breathing that let her know he was real, that he was there. His quick smile in her direction every time he would catch her looking at him before returning to his work.

Those smiles. She remembered them when she started to see him in person back in Hogwarts, those small smiles… she would never forget them.

"We will have to disinfect this…" He said, letting his hand fall to his side and cutting Ginny's thoughts making her exhale sharply and straight her back away from the doorjamb.

"Whatever… just open the door, Tom."

With a twist of his hand the door opened and they entered, Ginny closed the door behind her and leant against the wood with eyes fixed on the floor.

"Are you alright?" He asked.

The sound of his voice drew her back to reality and she headed to the bathroom, not feeling well at all. "Yes, don't worry."

Ginny turned the shower on and watched the waterfall, then she turned to the side and threw up in the toilet.

The Horcrux visit, Malfoy, the fact that, without a doubt, she was the girl on the photo that Borgin had spoken to Kevedo about, was too much for her nervous system and now that she was alone she was not able to handle it.

She hoped Tom couldn't hear her from the other side of the door.

Tom put his suitcase over the books and papers he had left scattered on the desk the previous night, and rested a fist on its surface, rubbing the bridge of his nose, he took a deep breath, frustrated.

He slowly unbuttoned his coat thinking about what he had to do the next day. It was one of the first Christmas days he would not be with Malfoy and it was not going to be for a good reason, but he had to return to the Manor soon, he had left his best cloak on Abraxas' office and she had probably left her clothes in her room as well. Tom opened the suitcase to confirm her clothes were on top of his, unfortunately, they weren't. He could still go have lunch with them, see what excuse about his broken nose Abraxas would offer, see what his parents had to say about it.

That would be fun, no doubt, but he would need a good night of sleep to regain the full control over his mood, because, in that moment, he felt like killing him. He would love to hear him scream, beg for forgiveness for touching her, for even looking at her… Tom swallowed hard and exhaled. He was no longer 8 years old, allowing his impulses to consume him, he ran the back of his hand across his mouth, he needed more time to think about Malfoy and what to do the next day.

Deciding to focus on Ginny's wellbeing, Tom walked to the kitchen, ignoring the noise coming up the stairs and Borgin's house elf that was cleaning the kitchen, he opened the drawers looking for a potion to disinfect her neck, his favourite potion was downstairs in one of the shelves inside the counter since she had been bitten by the vampire's skull, but he was not feeling like going there again.

When he returned to the attic, Ginny was still in the bathroom with the water running, so he sat on the bed, playing with the vial between his fingers, resting his arms on his legs, his eyes fixed on the floor.

"Ginevra…" Tom said her name in a whisper, savouring the sound.

He had been surprised that afternoon, two times none the less. First, when she had held his own razor against his throat and he had been almost sure that she was going to cut him, and he, for some reason, and stayed frozen, completely at the mercy of her will...

That had been exceptionally stupid of him, but it didn't compare to what she said to Malfoy some hours later when the other wizard was telling her about the half giant's monster.

 _A Basilisk_ , she had pointed out.

Something _clicked_.

Tom suddenly rose from the bed and ran over to the desk, scrambling through his things feverishly before grasping his Horcrux in his hands, its cold cover reassuring him of what he was he was thinking, of what he was remembering. Tom sat back down on the bed slowly, flipping through its pages.

The year he had written that diary was the most important year of his life, the year he found out, after months of research, where Slytherin's Chamber was, how he found out how he could live forever.

What Slytherin's monster was.

He had never told a soul – how did she know?

'What if…' Thought swam feverishly through his brain as everything else clicked into place – it was time; it was always about time. A time beyond his present. What if his corporeal body had died in the future? What if, after he had gone, _she_ had found his Horcrux? If someone _gave it to her?_

"I was actually right… I got you." Tom said, a cruel smile curling upon his lips, he was sure he was right, it made perfect sense. It tied into everything perfectly. Her sudden appearance, her distaste for him, how his Horcrux spoke to him, their unusual comfort around each other after they were forced to live together, the way she seemed to know him so well, when he didn't even know her surname.

He would never be close to anyone to the point to let them know him well, so it had to be something forced, something like the connection between the Horcrux and its victim.

Tom remembered reading something about Horcrux survivors and the possibility of some kind of bond happening between the two, it was a very small passage and he had found that information useless at the time; who would survive his Horcruxes? But it explained why he felt so protective of her, why he felt like she was his when it made no sense, it was a side effect of the Horcrux protecting its investment on its victim, to be sure the person would not run away.

If he really was not wrong, this started because he attached a memory to the Horcrux, a memory that would adopt a corporal form to interact with its victim.

Tom turned the ring on his finger, the second Horcrux he made, absently. He would not make the same mistake again regarding his Horcruxes.

As the weight of his realisation settled, he ran his hand across his face, feeling a strange sense of unease.

All of this was very _inconvenient_.

Tom was not going to sleep that night without her corroboration of his theory, even if he had to take them by force, which should be easy taking into account how she was that night.

He smiled for a moment, calculating, deciding. His eyes focused on the door behind which she was.

And he waited.

An eternity seemed to pass before Ginny walked back into the attic, dressed in her favourite sweater and pants ready to sleep, Tom was still sitting on the edge of the bed with the vial between his fingers and the Horcrux discarded by his side.

Ginny walked towards him, but she stopped by the curtains, not him, pulling on them to close his side of the attic. She was not feeling like speaking with him.

"Let me clean your neck." He said looking at her with a brisk finality that left no room for discussion.

With a sigh, Ginny sat down beside him on the bed and moved her hair to the side, tilting her head to give him better access to her neck.

Now who was the prey?

Tom put the potion on a clean cloth and lowered it onto her bruised skin, making her exhale harshly between her clenched teeth. Then he took the hand that had broken Malfoy's nose, gently compressing the cloth against her knuckles. His eyes glinted malevolently, watching her with a new kind of wonder now that everything about her made _sense_.

"Tomorrow, when everyone leaves and we can be in the store without anyone making us kiss." He said with a smirk, making her hiss. "We can get the other potion, so that this doesn't leave a scar."

"Yes… the last thing I want is to walk around with a bite on my neck." Ginny grumbled, ignoring what he said.

When Tom was content with his work, he didn't let go of her hand, squeezing it slightly between his fingers.

"I'm fine, Tom." Ginny said, taking her hand from his and getting up from the bed, she just wanted to sleep, but before she started to walk he grabbed the hem of her sweater, his hand balling up around it with a vice grip.

"There's something I want to talk to you about." He said, looking up at her.

Ginny sat beside him again, rubbing her legs, unable to stop the anxiety that rose from her centre when she had to move his diary from under her.

It wasn't there when they left to the party.

"I've been thinking a lot about you." Tom began, and Ginny automatically rolled her eyes, supporting her hands on her knees to get up, but he held her by the arm and pulled her down again, his nails digging into her skin. "And I'm finally sure of who you are."

Ginny's breath hitched.

"When Malfoy told you I won a trophy for saving Hogwarts from this creature that was attacking the students, you told him that it was a Basilisk that harmed the students." Ginny tried to maintain a neutral expression, veiling her horror, as he smiled at her, calm and controlled. "Hagrid's monster was an Acromantula. Nobody ever mentioned a Basilisk. In another context, I would find such a thing extremely strange to hear, but not when it came from you." Tom pulled her close to him until their legs were touching, his nails digging so tightly into her skin they threatened to pierce the flesh. "Right now, only my diary and I know about it." He said, so close to her that Ginny could feel his breath on her face.

"I do not know how, but tell me if I'm wrong… Ginevra, did you came from the future?"

Ginny looked at him, surprised and shocked, as she reviewed that part of the afternoon, trying to remember if she had actually talked about the Basilisk. Her stomach lurched as she recalled the exact conversation.

She was fucked.

Ginny pulled her arm with a jerk and got up laughing. Tom also rose, looking at her annoyed. "That's the most ridiculous thing I've heard all day!" She said walking away from him. "Please, tell me you have not been drinking, I cannot handle another drunk person this evening." When she looked at him, Tom stood stock-still, frighteningly mute. Ginny immediately pulled the curtain between them to create some sort of barrier, so she could grab her wand—

His hand suddenly emerged from the opening of the curtains and grabbed her wrist. Ginny screamed, jerking back, trying to pull her arm from him, he walked between the fabric, not knowing his Horcrux had made something similar hours earlier, not knowing this was the second time he trapped her against a wall, or in this case his bookshelf. Tom put his hands on both sides of her head and Ginny, with her wand still inside her purse, and knowing he wouldn't take as lightly as Malfoy if she broke his nose, decided to defend herself in the most dramatic way that came to her mind.

She took a deep breath and glued her back up as much as possible to the books behind her, turning her face to the side, biting her lower lip and holding her breath. "Tom, please don't..." She murmured.

Tom was caught off guard by her words, did she thought so little of him to think he would try to do the same Malfoy did? Did she think him so low? "Don't worry, Ginny," came the hiss from between his lips, as he wrapped his arms around her tightly, "I didn't mean to scare you." She was immobile within his tight embrace, a helpless animal wrapped in the boa's constrictive trap. Seconds from being devoured.

"You're lying." Ginny whispered, her arms limp at her sides, eyes darting wildly in fear, knowing she had just said the wrong thing.

He allowed her to go and she moved away from him, walking to the couch to grab her blanket to put it around her shoulders, then his fingers digging into her arms from on top of it. The attic was cold; it was as if there was a Dementor there.

"How can you know that?" Asked Tom, walking towards her. She was right, he was not sorry and he intended to scare her, not in that way, but scare her none the less.

"You're easy to read."

"How do you know about the Basilisk?"

"Care of Magical Creatures was my favourite class."

"You never went to Hogwarts."

"It's a common subject."

"You're lying." Tom hissed between gritted teeth, closing the distance between them, towering over her, looking unimpressed and much older in the dim light of the candles spread around the attic. The horror of her childhood.

"You're hurting my arm."

"Who told you about the Basilisk, Ginevra?" His voice dropping lowly, he wanted to shake her until she broke under his finger. "How do you know me?"

"I never met you before…" She answered in a whisper. She had avoided his eyes until now, and she met his gaze, so cruel and cold - so much like the wizard that faced Harry in Hogwarts.

"You will tell me."

"I have nothing to say…" She couldn't avert her eyes from his, she couldn't move, she was starting to struggle to breathe under his cold gaze.

Ginny couldn't find the strength to fight him when she heard him muttered the Legilimency spell.

Tom was pulling her recent memories away, trying to reach to what she knew about him, and Ginny would not allow it. Finding her strength, she closed the distance between them and kissed him, pulling him down to her, feeling the spell break the moment her lips touched his.

She would have to thank her dad when she returned home, for making her see that crazy Muggle film with the mummy and the librarian.

"Don't do this to me, Tom, please…" She pleaded against his chest, like when she had been lost in the memories of her first year. "Just leave it be, let me go home in peace…"

He put his arms around her waist and rested his head against hers, taken aback by her sudden kiss.

"You know that if you tell me who you are, I can help you get back home." He said, clear as crystal. "You know I can."

His words echoed through her head, over and over again.

"It's a low price to pay to go back to your family, to Harry."

Ginny lowered her arms, resting her hands against his chest before raising one to caress his cheekbone with her thumb.

"Don't say his name." She whispered. She hated when he said his name. The boy, years later that he would try to kill. She hated Tom, hated him with every fiber of her being, but there was something that ran lower, under the feelings she was facing, something that started all those years ago in that summer and that had found a way to flourish in the past weeks, between small talks in the store and smiles over dinner.

Something related to those thoughts she had when his fingers touched her neck, about her missing him, about her craving to be with him again, needing his comfort.

"Why shouldn't I?" He asked, with his eyes half-closed, absorbed in her touch.

"It doesn't sound right…"

"Why?" Tom smiled that cruel smile she hated and she felt her magic react to another Legilimency attempt that demanded that she showed him who Harry was. Ginny, angry, pushed him back into the couch, letting out a gasp when he pulled her with him, making her fall awkwardly over him.

The moment their lips touched, the spell was irreversibly over, and Tom didn't care, if he had her in his arms like this, so willing, so _pliant_ , he could wait.

It was not a simple kiss to distract him, she was releasing everything upon on him and she was completely lost to herself, assaulted by something she could only recall later as a sudden madness, something she would never do under different circumstances. She was the one moving to sit on his lap and pulling him to her, she was the one that was exploring his mouth, not leaving him much to do but dip his hands under her sweatshirt and run them up the warm skin of her back and enjoying the feeling of her gooseflesh rising underneath his fingertips.

Tom stopped the kiss when she started to pull on his tie, trying to undo the knot and take it off from him. Curious to see how far she wanted to go, he grabbed her legs and pushed her to the side against the couch, and stood over her, surprising her for a moment, but she quickly pulled him down to her, kissing him again, wrapping her legs around his, rocking her body against his, moaning against his lips.

He stopped and looked at her, out of breath.

What was wrong with her? What had changed?

Ginny, not breaking their eye contact, took the opportunity to finish loosening his tie and dropped it on the floor beside the couch. She bit her lip, smiling innocently at him, and began to unbutton his shirt, soon reached his vest, then she moved to pulling his collar open and kissed his neck, before starting to unbutton the next annoying piece of fabric between her and his skin. She slowly slipped the waistcoat down his arms, sliding her hands over his shoulders and then his back, biting her lip thinking about the skin she would be soon able to touch.

Tom moved his arms to shrug off the waistcoat, making her arch her back to better hold him between her legs when he changed his weight on top of her.

She pulled him to her again, kissing the air out of him, leaving both of them gasping for air.

Their eyes locked again when Ginny finished unbuttoning his shirt, reaching a hand between them, caressing his stomach down to his belt, stopping there to pull the shirt from the inside of his trousers to undo the last buttons, spurring an amused laugh from him.

Her hand trailed lower for a brief moment, over the thick, hard space between his legs, causing him to groan, in anticipation. His head jerked back, eyes mad and dark with desire. This was not the same person that had been mortified by a simple kiss the other morning, that spoke to him about love potions and how she didn't want to have anything to do with him.

Ginny was completely lost in what she was doing, in what they were doing, her mind was blank, only being able to focus on the fact that she needed him. And he needed her. Needed this.

It just felt right.

It felt right to rest her hands against his chest and feel his heart beat under his ribs, it felt right to slide her hands down his stomach again, feel the muscles contract against her touch, and trail his back up to his shoulders with her nails, leaving half-moon shaped marks all over the bare skin of his back.

She wanted him as close as possible.

"Tom…" She pulled him down by his collar and whispered in his ear, making him draw a sharp breath, deciding in that moment to let himself be drawn into her madness. He kissed her with the same force he had the first time, waiting for her to push him away, but she never did. His hands twined through her hair and he coaxed her mouth open, his tongue sliding easily in between her teeth.

Tom in that moment, really didn't care if she was doing this to distract him or something else, all he knew was that she was his, and there was no Harry in her mind, only him.

He would never be able to let her go now.

He deepened the kiss even more as his nimble fingers darted downwards to undo the buttons of her pants.

He stopped the kiss to look down at what he was doing, gasping quietly. She was clinging to him in such a way that he barely had space to move his hand between them.

Ginny, indifferent to his struggle, caressed his face, making him look up at her, she traced his jaw with a finger and pulled him down again, biting down on his lip hard, causing him to groan either in pain or pleasure, before giving him another kiss, tasting his own blood on her lips. Almost reluctantly, he pulled his lips from hers and slid them, slick with blood and lover's spit, across her cheek, until he reached her ear, ignoring what he was trying to do just a moment before. "Say my name again..." He commanded in a whisper, wanting to make sure she was still thinking about him, wishing to lose himself in her voice, letting his hands slide under her, grabbing her, using her as a leaver to push himself harder against her.

"Tom..." She replied in a hoarse whisper, almost pleading, holding his collar and pushing his shirt down, leaving his shoulders bare, trying to undress him, but Tom ignored her as she pressed kisses to his naked collarbone, too distracted by the rush of thoughts that went through his mind.

"Tell me... my name." He said again, now kissing her neck, tracing her skin with his lips, stopping over Malfoy's bite, his disgusting mark on her.

But she didn't belong to Malfoy, she belonged to him, she was his most precious possession, she was his, she was his… Ginny.

Small Ginny, dearest Ginny, precious…

"Voldemort..."

* * *

 **A/N:** Kudos for my betas ShirleyIAmSirius and Sinsinnatus from Tumblr!


	9. Chapter 9

When his name, his real name passed through her lips, Tom was unable to believe what she had just said. He breathed harshly and allowed himself the briefest of cruellest smiles before digging his teeth into her shoulder, over the mark left by Malfoy, moved by a primitive need for ownership to mark her as his, to make her know that she belonged to no one else but him.

She was his and _only_ his now and forever.

And Tom Riddle... no... _Lord Voldemort_ does not share what is his.

When Tom's teeth dug into her wounded flesh, the same jolt of energy that had shot through them the first time they had touched, ran again, making her cry out in pain and surprise when his teeth dug even deeper into her skin in a reflex. That made Ginny return back to reality and become instantly aware of what she was doing; of her legs draped around him and the way she was pulling him to her, that left no room to imagine exactly how deep he was entrenched in her madness; she could feel his heart racing under the bare skin of his chest, beating madly against the palm of her hand, his wild curls between the fingers that rested upon the back of his head.

Ginny pushed him away with all her strength and before he could find his balance she soundly slapped him across the face with such force that he almost slammed against the wall.

She had not used so much energy when she had hit Malfoy a few hours before.

And this, this was so much worse, just because of _who he was_ because she was the one that started everything, she had been the one sitting on his lap and kissing him

 _What had she done?_

The time seemed to stop at that moment; the wind in the street appeared to blow in hard gusts against the window, the laughter on the store downstairs, hitherto muffled by distance, became clearer and they could hear that there were people walking in the hallway near the stairs.

Ginny could hear her blood throbbing in her ears as she sat against the arm of the couch and pushed the pillow to the ground, trying to make space to move away as far as possible from Tom.

She covered her new wound with her sweater's sleeve when she felt the blood begin to drip down her skin and took an anxious deep breath, waiting for his reaction.

Tom looked at the exposed bricks on the wall as if it was the first time he saw them, he completely bewildered and the rough surface was becoming very interesting during the long time he was taking to process what had just happened, what she had done.

First, he felt _cold_ , his body resenting the absence of Ginny against him.

Sitting over his ankle and putting the other foot on the floor, he touched his face, lightly touching the skin that now bared a rude red imprint of her hand, while trying to control his ragged breathing.

He could hear Ginny panting in front of him, but he knew it was no longer for the reasons he'd had preferred.

Tom looked down at the space Ginny had put between the two.

Then, he was pierced by a sudden fury. _How did she dare hit him?_ He had done _nothing_ wrong, she was his and he had not only the right but the duty of marking her as such, for everyone to know but above all, for her to know. When he glanced at Ginny, she did not look scared, as he had expected, she was looking him directly in his eyes almost with the same fury he had boiling inside him.

However, there was no way for Tom to know that Ginny was more furious with herself than with him.

Tom looked away, he had to calm himself down; passing the shirt's cuff over his lips he sighed at the sight of blood, the rational voice in the back of his mind, letting him know what he had exactly done.

Ginny, trying to foresee the potential consequence of her action, didn't see how Tom continued to stare hungrily at her; she did not see him swallow hard, see his Adam's apple bob in anticipation, because she was looking away to the side, to another part of the attic, avoid the fact that he existed and was sitting in front of her.

Tom had never found her more attractive than in that moment and it filled him with a delirious combination of pent-up frustration and rage, a heat that stretched from the tips of his toes to his throbbing temple. If it was not for the knowledge that if he pulled her against him in that exact moment, to finish what they had started up would put him at the same level as Malfoy as well as push her away from him in such a way that he would be forced to make a series of decisions that, without doubt, would put him in Azkaban for some time, was part of the reason he was still sitting in the same place.

The odds of drawing attention to him, for something that would quickly become public humiliation and alienate all his contacts away, was what really was keeping him motionless.

He knew she would not resist if he insisted, if he was kind, if he smiled in that way that made her immediately look away and pretend she had not been watching, she would allow him to touch her again, but he also thought that if she was more like other women, and slept in actual _woman_ clothes that weren't hard to take off, they would be in very different circumstances already.

When Ginny moved, trying to keep her foot, wrapped in a striped stocking of red and gold, from touching his knee, Tom returned his attention to her.

"I'm sorry, I should not have done that." He said, trying to be sincere and thinking that she wanted to hear that while pulling his shirt over his shoulder and buttoning a few of the buttons.

"No, I know you. You do not remotely feel guilty about this." Ginny snapped, trying to accuse him of everything that had just happened and not just for the bite he was apologising for.

Tom took a deep breath, controlling the wave of anger that went through him, and cleaned his lips again. The taste of blood was beginning to bother him, but there was no longer any blood to clean. He was about to answer her, breaking the awkward silence that was beginning to tighten around them, like it always did when she called him out on his lies, with some hard truths, but hearing steps on the bottom of the stairs stopped him.

"Riddle!" Shouted Burke from the bottom, calling their attention to the door. "Are you awake?"

Tom looked at Ginny but she did not look at him, she simply stood up before Tom could stop her, pulling her sweater over the wound on the crook of her neck.

With quick steps, she opened the door and Burke looked at her surprised, not expecting to see her and gave a few, unbalanced, steps down until he found his balance against the wall.

"How can I help you, Mr Burke?" asked Ginny, trying to act naturally, pulling her hair over her shoulder.

"We," He pointed his thumb toward the hallway next to him. "We were wondering if Riddle would be interested in helping us finish the last bottles of firewhisky that were left over from the dinner."

"Tom? I don't know... But _I_ want to help!" She said with a broad smile that made Burke look at her confused, perplexed by the fact that Ginny was interested in that kind of activity.

It was very unusual and he didn't expect that kind of behaviour from her.

Ginny closed the door behind her without looking back and walked down the stairs, passing by Borgin towards the kitchen, being immediately followed by the other wizard, still confused and with eyes wide open looking at her back.

Tom sat on the couch for a moment, looking at the closed door, taken aback by what she had just done, as confused by what had happened as his boss.

She had simply stood up and left, after what had just happened, she was just gone.

It was unbelievable.

He slowly got up and took a deep breath looking at the ceiling pleading for patience and proceeded to put his shirt back inside his trousers before pulling them up, noticing how his belt was biting his hipbone. He opened the curtains and then opened his wardrobe, taking out an old sweatshirt that used to sleep and put it on, looking for it to protect him against the cold that passed through the light cotton fabric of his shirt as well as to hide the crumpled fabric by Ginny's hands and the bloody cuff.

His hair was completely dishevelled and the corner of his mouth was stained with dry blood. Tom ran his fingers through his hair and his tongue through his lips before cleaning it again, noticing how his lower lip was still slightly red from her kisses and sighed. Borgin could not have come at a worse time, and making it all even worse, that energy was still leaguering through him, like the first time, but now, it was not restricted to his hand, it was leaving him painfully aware of all the places their skins had been touching, making it hard for him to collect his usual composure.

He was still feeling quite _distracted_ and light headed by what they have been doing.

When his reflection returned what he wanted to see, Tom closed the wardrobe door and left the attic. He could hear the laughs coming from the kitchen, and he tried his best to not look annoyed by what he probably was about to see, Ginny surrounded by the men, probably sitting beside Borgin that in his turn would probably have an arm resting on the back of her chair.

He was right, but instead of dragging her out of the kitchen, as he wanted to do, he drunk half the glass of firewhisky that was pushed into his hand when he entered the room. None of the wizards gave him much attention, all of them focused on whatever story Ginny was telling them. Tom leant against the counter and put the glass by his side before crossing his arms over his chest, looking at her disapprovingly. Ginny was sitting across from him, almost facing him, but never once did she look at him, completely ignoring him.

There was nothing he hated more than being ignored.

In less than an hour, they finished the bottles and Ginny was beginning to become more and more incoherent towards the end, not as much as the others around them who had managed to drink more than her; but it was enough to make Tom smile behind the rim of his glass. He was sure that now he was going to get the answers to everything he wanted to know and the best part was that she would most likely not remember what she had said the next morning.

Unless she was exaggerating her behaviour, of course, it kind of looked like that as well.

Ginny had to hold on to Tom to walk up to the attic, the mix of alcohol with exhaustion getting the best of her, or Tom had to hold her against him for her to be able to walk up the attic, she was starting to feel overwhelmed.

Or numb.

She really could no longer tell the difference, she just knew she was not well and that he had an arm around her.

Was this normal among other woman that almost had sex with Lord Voldemort?

Ginny got on autopilot and started to retell the stories that Burke and his guest had shared, despite knowing that Tom had heard them all, and she laughs as loudly as she could.

When they entered the attic, Tom stepped back to close de door still holding Ginny's arm to keep her balance, but it was to no avail because her legs failed her and Ginny fell round on the floor. Tom didn't even bother himself with trying to catch her, he simply closed the door and looked at her while she moved to face up, running a hand through her hair to move it away from her face and started laughing even more.

When Tom leant over her, hands on his hips, Ginny laughed even louder, hugging her ribs when they began to ache.

She should be crying, she should be angry, she should be scared but all she could do was laugh.

"What's so funny?" asked Tom, stopping on one knee next to her, looking bored, and resting his chin on his hand.

"Everything!" Said Ginny when she calmed down enough to catch her breath and speak.

Tom did not say anything, he just waited, they looked at each other, he looking serious and she with a goofy smile on her lips. "Can I ask you a question?" He asked, deciding to try his luck.

Ginny lifted a hand and caressed his face. "You ask too many questions, Tom." she replied, lightly patting him on the nose with her finger, then she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "I'm so tired... I think today, was one of the longest days I ever had. I'm going to sleep right here on the floor."

Tom pursed his lips into a thin line, she was not going to answer any of his questions that night. He raised her from the floor with a fluid movement and she barely reacted, not even opening her eyes.

"I hope you're taking me to the couch." She muttered.

"Of course, I'm not." Was Tom's replay passing through the curtains, lowering her to his bed.

"I miss my bed." Ginny muttered, pulling the blankets up to her nose and turning or her side. "I miss my room, my clothes, my pillow..."

"And where are all those things, Ginevra?" Tom asked as he pulled the curtains closed again, to try to warm the room.

"Home."

Tom opened the wardrobe doors and looked over his shoulder, hesitating for a moment about what he was about to do. "And where is your home?" He asked, taking the sweatshirt off and hanging it on the door before loosening the belt. "Ginevra, where is your home?" He insisted when she did not answer.

"In a small valley away from the Muggles, where we can play Quidditch all day with no one seeing us." Answered Ginny sleepily.

Tom unfastened his trousers and pulled his shirt over his head without unbuttoning then put the sweater back on.

"You're not changing here, right?" Ginny asked raising her head from the pillow, when she heard him moving, trying to see what he was doing, but unable to open her eyelids enough to see in the dim light of the room.

"Well, why don't you answer my questions first and then I answer yours?" He tried.

"By Merlin... I'm a lady, I demand some respect over here!" She muttered offended, burying her head back in the pillow and yawning.

"After what just happened?" Tom let out a laugh. "I don't think it matters anymore." When Tom turned back after closing the wardrobe, he was startled by seeing her looking at him with eyes wide open and a very serious expression on her face.

"Forget what happened tonight Tom, forget everything that happened."

"I don't think that's possible, Ginevra."

"Tom, don't you understand that we, this... we..." Ginny gestured, trying to find the words, feeling her throat closing. "Don't you understand?"

"No, Ginevra, I don't understand." Tom sat on the bed, pulling the covers over his legs and turning to Ginny. "But I'd like to understand." He cleaned the tear running down her face and kissed her gently.

When he pulled away, Ginny had closed her eyes and Tom could hear her sigh; he kissed her again and she kissed him back, gently moving her lips against his, a kiss devoid of the passion that had consumed her before, almost mechanical. "I would like to understand what is happening, who you are, fro-" Then his words were murmured when she pressed her lips against his, holding his arm.

Tom broke the kiss and caressed her face, smiling, patient, content with her reaction. If this was her idea of forgetting what had happened and not speak about important things, he really was starting to like her method. "Let's just sleep." He said lying back and pulling her with him so that her head could rest on his chest. "You're a lost case."

Ginny soon relaxed against him, finally left alone to rest, she soon began to fall asleep.

"Are you still going to move out?" Tom suddenly asked, slightly raising his head from the pillow to try to see her face and pressing her to him. This moment seemed to promise she wouldn't, she no longer seemed furious with him, had let him touch her again.

"I don't think I will ever be able to leave you, even if I want to."

"What is that supposed to mean?" _That_ was not the answer he was expecting to get, it didn't even make sense given his question, but Ginny fell asleep and didn't say anything else.

* * *

Next morning, after a long moment debating if really was worth to get up from her side to go lunch with Malfoy, Tom ran a hand over his face looking at his reflection in the bathroom mirror, trying to decide whether it was worth to shave or not and took off his sweater, feeling the mesh scratch his back he looked over his shoulder at his reflection. His back was marked with the long red lines Ginny had left on his skin. He smiled, lingering in the memories of what happened that night; now he was curious to find how she was going to react when she woke up. Would she try to hide from him like when he had kissed her the first time?

It was the more likely, he thought amused, but this time, he would go after her if she dared to do that again, he decided, he was done with her childish reactions. He liked how things had settled before they fell asleep and would like to go on with it, having her sleep with him every night, where she fit so well.

When Tom left the bathroom, looking casual without his usual vest and coat, his eyes immediately rested on Ginny, he couldn't help but grin at the view as he walked closer. Sitting by her side, resting a hand on the other side of her body, he pulled the covers down to her chest. "Ginevra… Ginevra?" He called her as gently as possible, not wanting to wake her up completely. "Ginevra..." He pushed a few strands of hair from her face and leant down, almost touching her hear with his lips. "Ginny?"

"Tom?" Asked Ginny turning to her back, with half-opened eyes. "What is it?"

"I'm having lunch with Abraxas, it should not take long." He said, smiling at hearing his name and not the other one _Harry_.

"Okay, see you later..."

"Goodbye..." Tom answered before pressing his lips to hers, delighted for her willingness to respond when she put her arms around his shoulders. Tom still felt tempted to forget Malfoy and stay there, with her in his arms, warm, comfortable, where she belonged. He sighed and pulled away, rising without taking his eyes from Ginny who pulled the covers over her and muttered a barely audible "Don't take long, Tom." Which put him a very good mood, he could definitely get used to these farewell kisses.

He was absolutely ready to face Malfoy without killing him; calm and collected, more focused on what awaited him when he returned to the store instead of what was waiting for him at the Malfoy Manor.

When he stepped out of the fireplace in Abraxas's office, he already was waiting for him sitting in his usual place behind the desk, going through some papers; looking as sharp as he always did. Despite that, Tom could feel the nervousness of the other wizard from afar, he could see the wheels in his brain trying to guess what he was going to say, trying to find something to say. He could hear him thinking _'Did she tell him? There is no way for him to know, why should she tell him? He is nothing to her.'_ which left him quite pleased. Ideally he would show him how displeased he was with what he had done with a couple of his favourite spells, but since he was in a rather good mood, it was enough that Abraxas had most likely passed the night dreading over the thoughts of him coming or not for lunch and what she had told him. Simply suffering by anticipation.

Despite a certain need for revenge, he knew it was more important to keep the relationship with Abraxas intact. Regardless of what had happened that night, the Malfoys importance had not changed and he still needed them, he still needed Abraxas.

"How is she?" Malfoy finally asked, serious, when Tom sat at the desk, not even bothering to greet him, just jumping into the subject.

"Well," Tom started calmly. "Tired, still asleep when I left the store."

"Oh..." Malfoy frowned, thinking about something for a moment. "Well, I suppose she asked you to take her clothes back."

"Yes, and I forgot my cloak." Tom completed, with a smile over his small lie pointing a finger at his cloak resting on the back of the chair by his side.

Tom tried to start a conversation with Malfoy while they walked to the bedrooms' wing, he wanted to assure him that he was not resenting his actions towards Ginny, but not being much successful since Malfoy only answered him with small, mostly monosyllabic, answers, which was understandable. He could feel his nervousness.

Abraxas opened the bedroom door where Ginny should have stayed and Tom walked in, stopping before the blood stain on the carpet, slightly surprised during a moment. His temper starting too caught up with him while he was trying to remember if had seen any injury on Ginny that could match that blood loss.

His logical side kicked in and he remembered Ginny saying that she had taken care of Malfoy but not actually saying what she had done to him.

He felt relieved.

The amount of blood should be from a broken nose then since he could not see any object out of place that could have been used as a weapon. It looked like Malfoy had used his healing potion to hide the physical proof of his encounter with Ginny. Tom, would have chosen a different approx., but then again, for a wizard of Malfoy status and position, having a nose broken by someone like Ginny was humiliating and would make him think before he looked at her again in such way.

Stepping over the stain, he walked towards the bed. Tom tried to see if the clothes she had brought were all in bed and noticed that Ginny had left a nightgown there and he almost rolled his eyes when he picked up the garment from the floor and fold it over the bed.

'Where were you last night?' He thought to himself.

While Tom was trying to fold Ginny's clothes, Malfoy disappeared to his own room for a moment and returned with a suitcase and a long box lined with dark green velvet.

He waited for Tom to pack her clothes before making the question he was holding since Tom arrived.

"Do you think she will forgive me?" He asked, leaning against the bedpost where he had Ginny pinned the night before and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Do you think I should write to her? Or should I invite her to dinner? I really don't know what went through me last night, and I-" Tom held up a hand to silence him, half surprised by what he was hearing and to gain some time to find an answer that would not evolve hexing him.

"No, I don't think she will forgive you. What you did was very serious and I believe that if you try to talk to her in the near future, it only makes everything worse." He lied. It was her that had to calm him last night, not the opposite, but Malfoy did not know that and until that instant he himself had forgotten that moment in the kitchen, which left him feeling rather annoyed by the power she seemed to have to influence and distract him.

He then had a moment of clarity where he realised, that if he was not careful, she could be able to cause some permanent damage to his life.

"Then if-"

"Forget about it, Abraxas." Tom let a faint note of a threat join his advice. "Besides, what you did, it... kind of brought us together, and I would really appreciate if you would not try to address her in such a way again, or see her without me by her side." He casually said, walking away from Malfoy with the suitcase in his hand, ignoring the look of pure surprise that the other wizard was giving him. "Can we leave this in your office with my cloak before we go to your parents?"

"Of course." Malfoy said, acknowledging the change of subject. "I'm happy for you, I suppose you're going to treat her better than me." Malfoy did not say anything else on the way back to his office and Tom, this time, did not try to incite a conversation.

There was really nothing to say.

"Anyway Tom, I would appreciate if you gave her this in my name, with my sincere apologies." He said, handing him the box before they left the office. Tom took the box and opened it, inside was a pearl necklace, an expensive apology to a woman who Abraxas did not know enough to warrant that gift, but Abraxas Malfoy had always been extravagant and dramatic.

"Of course." Said Tom placing the box inside the suitcase.

The lunch elapsed normally, as it did every year, only him and Abraxas and his parents until the second course was served, then Tom wished he really had stayed in bed.

"What happened last night, Tom?" Mrs Malfoy Suddenly asked, not able to hold her curiosity any longer.

"Last night?" Tom repeated, looking confused like nothing outstanding had happened and he didn't know what she was talking about.

"With your red haired friend, I noticed her walk across the ballroom to you, looking rather in a tiff." She said in a condescending tone as if her look was an offence against all her ancestors.

Looking at her without an expression, he carefully waited before answering, because how did that woman dare to make such an observation? Especially when her precious son was the one responsible for leaving her in such state.

"She has been feeling sick for a number of days and been complained about being exhausted, she implored me to go back to the store and I didn't felt the courage to leave her behind and return. I'm truly sorry." Explained Tom, making sure he seemed disappointed that he could not have stayed for the rest of the night.

"She's your co-worker at the Borgin & Burkes is she not? I remember Abraxas referring it when we were reviewing the guest list, she seemed friendly." Said Mr Malfoy. "I wish I had spoken to her." Tom did not answer him, choosing to take a bit of his mouth instead of telling him that he had had plenty of opportunities to do so and ignored each one of them.

"She's a little more than his co-worker." Abraxas suddenly said, ignoring the surprised way in which Mr and Mrs Malfoy looked at him and Tom's annoyed expression.

"Really Tom? That's very good." Greeted Mrs Malfoy, sincerely happy for the best friend of his son, she had seen him grow over the last decade and he was always worried about his lack of interest in girls. "She must be really special."

"I suppose she is." Tom said, continuing to eat.

No, Ginny was not _that_ special.

"Well, I assume that now that you're finally starting to organise your life, you'll want a real job, something worthy!" Said Mr Malfoy which made Tom stop and look at the other wizard frowning, puzzled, and not wanting to believe what he was going to say next. "My proposal from yesterday still stands up."

Tom spent the rest of the meal refusing Mr Malfoy's proposals of a job in the Ministry of Magic with his son, and evasively answering Mrs. Malfoy's questions about Ginny, as well as ignoring Abraxas, who was beginning to have some difficulty in hiding how much disappointed he felt that Tom and Ginny were finally together and ate in silence.

Abraxas thought that perhaps this was his fault, that the fact that he insisted so much on the idea of them being dating, had given them some idea to actually do it. But it was for the best, his father would not approve of Ginny, he knew nothing about her, about her life, about her family and more importantly about her blood.

When the meal was finished, Tom refused to stay for the afternoon, apologising with his concern about living a sick Ginny alone at the store. He gave Mrs Malfoy's gift to the witch, which she liked, and returned to the Borgin & Burkes.

* * *

Ginny woke up an hour or so after Tom had gone to the Malfoy Manor, feeling like death. One knee and an elbow hurt, and her neck were killing her. She pulled the covers over her head and took a deep breath, hating the unpleasant taste to firewhisky in her mouth.

She still felt so tired.

Massaging her neck, she felt the imprints of Tom's teeth on her skin with her fingertips, which made a chill run through her body, leaving her with goose bumps. What was going on with the men of 1946 where they felt it was appropriate to bite other people? Surely it could not be a normal thing.

Worse than that! What the hell was wrong with _her_?

Ginny suddenly stood up and walked into the bathroom and closed the door with a bang. She took off the sweater, leaving only the vest top she was wearing underneath it and looked at her neck, pushing her hair behind her shoulder that insisted on hiding her injury. She couldn't tell Malfoy's bite from Tom's, she could only feel the whole wound pulsing.

She finished undressing and showered, letting the hot water massage her sore neck when she finished she got back on her favourite and only pants, and looked for a clean sweater to wear on her dresser. She stood by the window for a moment, looking at the grey London's landscape without thinking about anything in particular. Making a messy bun with her hair she decided she needed a full stomach to cease the day so she went down to the kitchen, pausing only to take her wand from her purse and putting it in the back pocket of her pants, promising to always keep it with her from then on.

Mindlessly, she made a sandwich and plopped down in the nearest chair, but she didn't felt like eating.

"I almost fucked Lord Voldemort! _What the fuck is wrong with me_?" She asked to the empty kitchen and let her forehead rest on the table between her arm and the dish. Malfoy almost had his way with her, and instead of burning his stupid house down as he deserved, she went home to Lord Voldemort's bedroom and... and… Ginny straightened up and looked at the ceiling, feeling pathetic and miserable.

It was not like her to do this kind of things.

Kiss him to stop him from asking inconvenient questions had given its results, but nothing involving Tom Riddle was ever innocent, and Ginny actually had no explanation for what had happened last night. Nothing. It had been a lapse of judgment; she had gone mad.

There was no logical explanation.

The Horcruxes words came back to her mind, but she ignored them.

Ginny understood what he wanted to say, Tom Riddle, influenced by the Horcrux impressions to a certain extension, could feel a need to control her as the Horcrux had felt, but it did not explain why she had encouraged what almost happened. It did not explain the kisses in bed and did not explain in any way, the affectionate farewell she gave him that morning before he went to the Malfoy Manor.

It was too much and too _odd_.

She let her forehead rest on the table again.

With some effort, she admitted that the problem was from living and working with him.

Tom Riddle had left a strong impression on her. He tried to kill her, no question about that, in fact, more than one time, but he was the only one that gave her any short of support when she started Hogwarts.

She only knew that it had started bad, with none of her brothers saving a sit for her by their side in the long Gryffindor's table after the sorting ceremony, they're always too busy to help her with homework or keep her company during the weekends.

Ginny was always alone, lost and scared and none of them had listened, only Tom was there, and he was not even _real._

That still hurt.

He had been her company when everyone was focused on keeping Harry happy during his stay in the summer and was her company when everyone was busy with classes and their own lives.

It was not that surprising what Tom had managed to do that year, instead, it would be in fact, surprising if he had accomplished nothing with her.

Tom had been, in fact, her best friend, her only companion and her world, from the day she found her diary among her second-hand books, until the day he had tried to kill her in the Chamber.

When the year was over, Ginny liked Tom, and it was her feelings for the boy in the diary that caused her to lose her obsessive interest in Harry Potter, a boy who she'd never even held a conversation with.

It had been the nights in the Gryffindor's Tower with the canopy closed around the bed with him by her side, the occasional nights when she would wake with a Tom sleeping with his head resting on her shoulder, unaware that he was projecting a solid image of himself out of the diary; the brief demonstrations of affection in the dungeons when she ran away from the Slytherins and he told her she was perfect and tucked her hair behind her ear.

He had kissed her once; that had been her darkest, most treasured secret.

Her first kiss, a cold, chaste press of the lips, a gift he had given her when she finally spoke Parseltongue and opened the entrance to the Chamber. She had always hidden it; how could she share that her first kiss had been on top of a pile of bones and given by the memory of one Lord Voldemort?

Tom sometimes did that, kiss her when she did something that pleased him. They were always blink-or-miss moments, quick, hard pecks to her cheek or her forehead. It was his rewards to her, to keep her always on the edge, to keep her interested and curious, and at the end of a tether, he always held. But otherwise, he always avoided touching her, always. His kisses were rare; Ginny could still count on one hand the times he had done it.

He had always kept his distance otherwise, but he had already done more than he needs to and it had been enough for her to fall for him.

She knew she could not hide anything from Tom, and that was why when he placed one knee on the floor of the Chamber and knelt before her, pulling her into his embrace for the last time, when the light enveloped them, he gave her a kiss she would not be able to forget.

It had been far from innocent, very far from it.

A kiss of death.

Her ultimate reward, in his eyes.

Ginny had to outgrow sixteen-year-old Tom Riddle to get over that last kiss since it was full of so many powerful intentions and binding thoughts. She had to start her life with Harry to actually, and completely let him go, only then realising how far he had reached, how deep in her soul he had touched her.

She didn't think about him every day, she barely thought about him at all, decided to move on with her life, to prove that she had not been broken by Lord Voldemort, but he had been at the periphery of her mind since then.

What was going on at the Borgin & Burkes, between her and the man who she hated the most, was therefore not so surprising. Tom, at his sixteens, had been everything she could ever want at her elevens. Tom Riddle was smart, handsome, fun and friendly, he cared about her, he made her feel special.

He was half the things Harry wasn't.

Tom in his twenties was making her feel the same, and now she was starting to confuse passion for a love he never gave and would never give.

He had kept his distance at first, after all, she had fallen literally from nothing in his life, first forcing him to work with her and then forced to live with her, but what else could he do when she was… when they pat had already crossed and their souls had touched? When his soul knew her soul and it was driven into her like a moth to a light? Blindly, with no choice about it, a decision made for him, in a future he had not lived yet and that he would never be able to predict.

It seemed, she had forgotten that, under the image she had built around Lord Voldemort, around the men with red eyes and a skin as white as bone, that underneath all those deaths, under that superiority, arrogance and madness, there was something human, there was Tom Riddle, and he had been, for a long time, just an ordinary man, working an ordinary job, without anything very cruel about him.

He was no longer sixteen and she was no longer eleven, he was not broken by the Horcruxes and she didn't know what she was doing.

Her feelings for him had a long history, she was letting her silly crush on him grow and he was going along with it. Why shouldn't he? Living a normal life, with a normal job and people that liked him, why would he ignore the opportunity to have someone to keep his bed warm as well?

Even if he didn't like her or understood what was going on?

Ginny hit her head on the table a few times in a dry, repetitive motion, hopeless.

She could no longer deny what was happening and she had to admit that she was worthy of the award for the most stupid person of the year.

Or century.

She got up from the table and dropped the sandwich in the garbage, leaving the dirty dish on the counter, she was not hungry after all.

In the attic, she grabbed Tom's Horcrux from the floor by the bed. She opened it, looking at the empty pages, one after the other, but she did not dare write on it, even if she wanted, even if she wanted to tell the Tom on the Horcrux how much she hated him, how he ruined her life and was destroying her values and morals.

Turning her into a monster.

A monster just like him.

Ginny lay down on the couch, the black notebook over her heart and took a deep breath, closing her eyes.

The first thing she would do the next day was to see if Dumbledore had sent her the watch in the mail.

She really, really, really had to go back to 1999.

Ginny barely heard the fireplace in the kitchen roar when Tom arrived, so she had to run to his bed and drop the notebook where she had found it, pick the first book she saw on his desk and jump back on the couch.

Moments later Tom entered the attic, looked around and spotted her, he calmly walked to her and dropped the bag on her stomach. "I brought your things." He announced before sitting on the edge of the couch next to her legs and resting his arm on her knee, which she automatically tried to move away despite having no space to do so.

"You shouldn't have bothered." Ginny said without looking up from her book and dropping the bag on the floor beside the couch with disdain, determined to ignore his touch on her leg.

Tom rolled his eyes and pulled the suitcase to him, opening it. "Malfoy sent you an apology gift." He took the velvet box and held it towards her.

"You can have it." She replied without looking at him.

"I don't think it would suit me. They are pearls."

"I really don't care." She said dryly.

Tom looked at her in silence. "Ginevra..." She was in a bad mood, but he would rather have her there in a bad mood, than not have her there at all. He couldn't promise that he would wait for her if she disappeared again if she went away to have dinner with Nott and only return in the early hours of the morning.

He would find her and bring her back.

Even if she did not want to come.

"What?" Asked Ginny after starting to be uncomfortable with his stare.

"Did you broke his nose?" He asked, wanting her to assure him he was right.

"Yup. Why?" She asked, almost defiantly.

"Nothing, they haven't cleaned the carpet in your bedroom yet."

Ginny dropped the book for a moment to look at Tom. "So, did you saw any more interesting things on the floor beside Malfoy blood?" She asked, trying to be casual.

"No..." said Tom, a note of curiosity in his voice, trying to quickly remember something out of place other than the blood.

"Hmm." Ginny did not elaborate, if he didn't know, she was not going to say anything.

"Ginevra." He called in a way he expected her to continue.

"What is it?"

Tom sighed and stood up, taking the bag from the floor with him, "I told Malfoy we are together." As he crossed the room and put the bag over her dresser, he had not said that way, but it felt like it was the appropriate thing to tell her.

"You said what?" Ginny looked at him over her book, not sure about what she had just heard.

"I told him you had you moved into the attic with me." Tom lied, taking Ginny's clothes from Malfoy's bag. He had definitely not said that, but once again, it seemed the right thing to say to Ginny.

"I punched him in the face! There was no need for you to lie to him! You should not have told him that!" argued Ginny, feeling exasperated; what was he thinking?

"He asked if you should apologise to you with a letter or invite you out for dinner." Tom looked at Ginny and shrugged. "It seemed like the logical thing to say to him, since what you did to him didn't work." He put Malfoy's suitcase on top of the wardrobe. "Should I have not done that?" He looked at her worried. "I thought that was what we did in these circumstances."

Ginny covered her eyes with the book and took a deep breath, she hated when he pretended to be stupid, but she could not really blame him for that.

Kind of… but not really.

"So what are we going to do today?" He asked sitting back on the couch and resting against her legs.

"I was thinking about sleeping all day." She replied, dryly, wondering why he had returned so quickly from the Malfoy Manor. He should have spent the day with Malfoy and only come back late into the night when she was already asleep and could not see him.

Why couldn't he see she needed to be alone?

"You sleep a lot." Tom observed, rubbing his face, suddenly feeling drowsy.

"I am tired."

"How's your neck?" asked Tom, looking at her seriously.

"Well, I guess, still between my head and my shoulders, as usual." Answered Ginny feeling uncomfortable.

"Let me see it." Tom asked, straightening and leaning towards her.

"No!"

"Ginevra, let me see it, stop being stubborn!" They struggled for a moment before Ginny hit his hand with the book when he tried to pull her sweater down.

"Fine, have it your way!" Muttered Tom, standing up and shaking his hand. There were better things he could do with his time.

He grabbed the suitcase he had left on his desk the night before and dropped it on his bed, a spell quickly making its contents find their place, as well as any book or thing out of space while he went through his notes on his desk. His diary, not having a place in the attic, lightly tapped him on the arm to get his attention and Tom, who was passing by the couch, dropped it on top of Ginny who looked surprised at it.

"What am I supposed to do with this?" She asked confused, not understanding why he would give her the Horcrux, but Tom ignored her, which made her feel infinitely relieved, realizing what he was doing, trying to make his Horcrux, his most important possession in that room, along with the ring on his finger that haven't gone unnoticed to her, nothing more than a simple notebook. "What are you doing?" She asked when she saw him put his cauldron on the desk.

"I need to make some potions." He said without turning around, putting the wand next to the cauldron and disappeared through the stairs. "I'm going to do more of my healing potion." He specified when he came back, a wooden board covered with sliced herbs on top under his arm; then he held out a letter to Ginny. "Also, Borgin sent us this, do you mind reading it?"

Ginny tried to balance his diary over the back of the couch along with her book, but it fell between the space between the wall with a thud. "Oops..." She looked at Tom from the corner of her eye, but he was throwing things into the cauldron and was not paying attention to her.

Feeling relieved, she broke the letter's seal and began to read it for her.

"What does it say?" Asked Tom, stirring the potion with the tip of his wand.

"The Aurors are doing new searches, he says that tomorrow we will probably have to face a wave of customers alone and he is sorry about it, he says Burke is in Mexico and apparently Borgin's wife just had their baby."

"Good for him." Replied Tom absently.

Tom did not say anything after that, making that potion had pulled him back into his books and he spent the rest of the day between his notes and his potion.

Before dinner, when he finished his healing potion and tried to force Ginny to show him her neck and let him take care of it, but Ginny pushed him away, not wanting him to touch her there again and disappeared into the bathroom where she herself dealt with the hound, sick of having him close for decades to come.

When she returned, Ginny could feel that there was something he wanted to say and was still deciding how to do it, since she didn't felt like she wanted to find out, she decided to put some space between them. She cooked something fast and stepped down into the dark store, where she lit the fireplace and dragged one of the armchairs closer to it.

Dribbled past the flames for hours, lost within herself, thinking about what had happened the day before. The only thing that comforted her was the fact that whatever was happening here, it would not follow her into the future.

Something along the lines of what the Americans used to say: What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.

As she never told all the details of what happened in her first year at Hogwarts, between her and the Horcrux, if things after this went well when she returned home, and the watch was able to leave her a moment after the one she left to 1946, no one would to know about this as well, and Ginny took comfort in that though.

Tom startled her when he pulled the other armchair to her side and sat down, stretching his feet towards the fire. "I was wondering where you would be. I thought you may have left. "

"No, but I should."

"Hmm." He didn't like what she was saying.

"I'm tired." Ginny said, rising from her chair. "I'm going to sleep."

"Ginevra?" Tom called her but she was already going up the stairwell.

When Tom finished getting ready for bed, he leant over Ginny's form on the couch. She lay on her side facing inwards, breathing regularly but with a frown on her face. He pulled the blankets from her making her shrink when the cold air of the attic wrapped around her, then he took her in his arms as gently as he could as to not wake her and laid her on his bed.

"How did you manage to bring me here without waking me up?" Ginny asked, the next day, against the crook of his neck.

"Magic." Said Tom, hoarsely, half asleep.

"You're not funny." Huffed Ginny, startling him when she slid a cold hand under his sweater through his back.

"Don't do that." Tom muttered annoyed, pulling his sweater down.

"So let me get up." Ginny said, trying to get away from him but to no avail. "Tom?" She called when she felt him push her against him and slowly slide his hands down her back, but his response was to kiss her neck, over the place he had bitten her, the mark almost gone, which made her shrink her shoulder to get him away and try to get up with more motivation.

Tom let her go, but just enough to be able to stand on his elbow and kiss her mouth.

Ginny felt her heart race when his lips touched hers, soft but determined in its aim, slightly biting her lip asking for her to allow him to deepen the kiss.

She held her breath for a moment, not knowing what to do. _'It's nothing more than a kiss,'_ she thought _'a kiss from someone living in 1946. Someone I will never see again.'_ She thought, half of her brain turning off under his touch.

 _'No one will know…'_

So she let him kiss her, she caressed the back of his neck reaching for his hair, focusing on the soft strands between her fingers, knowing that the next person she would touch like this, would be his nemesis.

Now she didn't care.

"Yes?" He finally answered her call, with a smile, when he parted from her, but she had nothing to say. "I'm curious about one thing." He said, tracing Ginny's jaw line with a finger. "Did you feel something when I bit you?" He asked, seriously.

"Yes, that kind of pain you get when someone has an identity crisis and thinks he's a vampire." Ginny said sarcastically, letting her hand slip to his chest and pushing him away, but Tom did not move away as much as she wanted.

"No, I mean… there was something different this time on that jolt we got..." He said, sliding his thumb over the place he had bitten, to accent what he was saying.

"Ah... that... I don't know what hurt more if your stupid bite or that." Ginny replied in the same unfazed tone, finally able to push him to the side and stand up.

She walked to her dressed and looked at the clothes Tom had brought from the Malfoy Manor, trying to decide if she shouldn't just burn them for the simple fact of them being in contact with the air of that house.

Then she heard Tom yawn from the bed and looked at him; he was stretching, his arms against the wall behind the bed raising his sweatshirt to reveal the muscles of his stomach, the defined lines of his jaw when he tilted his head back to better arch his back.

Ginny felt herself blush, and she quickly got her attention back to her clothes, as if there was nothing else in the room.

She didn't understand what was going on that morning, but it had to stop.

The day went as Borgin had promised in his letter, long, busy, with clients that never stopped arriving, but despite this, despite them not even being able to close the store for lunch, Tom found time for, when they crossed in the warehouse or behind one of the further shelves of the store, to push her against the nearest surface and kiss her breath away, then leave her with a smirk on his lips and the senseless idea that she was enjoying it as much as him.

She was, but she was trying not to.

Later, they had dinner at the Leaking Cauldron, too tired to even try to talk to each other, but their knees were touching under the table.

Ginny was confused, even a little annoyed with the new situation they were in, and with his indifference to the imperative need they had to not get involved with each other. Obviously, only she knew they shouldn't do it, and if she tried to explain this to him, it would lead to a series of inconvenient questions to which she could not answer.

But the line had been passed, the door opened and left ajar that Christmas eve, and she couldn't find the strength to close it.

It was with resignation that Ginny threw her pillow against Tom's head that night and lay beside him, ignoring the victorious smile he gave her before kissing her as if they had been arguing for weeks and she had just told him he was right.

The days after were almost like the first, the difference was that the number of customers was gradually decreasing with the panic related to what the Aurors were doing disappearing and the public's attention was focusing on the anticipated trial of Grindelwald; then there was the increasing number of kisses stolen during the day.

The line that Tom had not been able to cross on the Christmas Eve, was not been crossed as well those days, to his great frustration.

Hot kisses, cold hands under warm sweaters, small bites and scratches were starting to become common, but they never took off a single piece of clothes, she knew how bad he wanted it, she could feel him hard against her every night, but she couldn't bear the idea of actually… _doing it_. It was insurmountable, she would never do it with him, as much as her body ached under his touch and her mind screamed for her to let go; she would always pull him against the crook of her neck and hold him down whispering a good night against his hair until he would hear him growl in frustration and then relaxing against her between an incredulous "Seriously Ginevra?" and an annoyed "Really?".

She already was conflicted enough by just sharing Lord Voldemort's bed and let him kiss her like that, she had no idea about how she would react if they did more.

There was now a _status quo_ in their new living arrangements, where Tom would not ask her questions about her life and Ginny would not avoid him and run away. Where she would let him touch her and she would touch him back and they would ignore reality as long as possible.

Ginny always fell asleep after him during those days of false peacefulness. She felt guilty, she felt like she was betraying Harry in the worst possible way, though they have not been together for some months.

She used that time to think, to read the signs Tom gave her during the day; it was clear that he liked her, she was not sure which definition of _'like'_ she should use with him, she couldn't even start to imagine it. She knew that Lord Voldemort did not love anyone, not even himself, that he despised that kind of feelings and believed it made men weak.

Sometimes Ginny would indulge in the idea that she was the one responsible for those feelings, that all of this was destined to happen, that she was supposed to go to the past, make him fall in love with her and then she would break his heart, leaving behind a bitter and cold wizard.

It was a great idea for a book, terribly romantic; it would be a tremendous success if she wrote it down.

But Ginny had no illusions about the mark she was going to leave in his life.

Tom Riddle would forget about her and move on with his life to become Lord Voldemort, and she would become nothing more than a footnote in the life of the wizard of the century.

She would certainly know if he remembered her, because he would certainly capture her and interrogate her for hours until she told him everything she knew, he would most certainly want to know how she ended up in 1946, who sent her, what was their goals, and when he was finished, he would kill her.

That Friday morning, eve to Hepzibah Smith's New Year Party, they were sitting in the kitchen.

Tom looked at Ginny next to him and sighed contented. That last week of the year was being one of the nicest he had that year, waking up with her by his side brought him a kind of comfort he didn't know he needed, it was strangely calm.

Ginny was reading the newspaper, nibbling the edge of her cup of tea at the sound of the horrible Muggle music she liked to hear, indifferent to the circles he had been distracted tracing inside her knee as he finished reading his book.

The tenuous balance between the two that he tried to maintain the best he could, even if it was beginning to corrode him from within. On one hand, he wanted to ask all those questions that haunted him since Christmas Eve, but in the other, he wanted to keep her close. He knew that if he asked any of those questions she would automatically go back to the couch and then after the Hepzibah Smith's party, she would not go back with him to the Borgin & Burkes, keeping to the plan they had traced when she was forced by Burke to live in the attic.

Tom knew he had created an unnecessary dilemma, and for reasons he didn't even understand very well, which made everything worse. He always knew everything.

But he felt comfortable around her in a way he had never been around anyone. Why try to pretend he was someone he was not, to be distant, cold when Ginny knew what to expect from him? She could read through his faced and lies for Merlin's sake, and that made him feel vulnerable and exposed, and that made him want to have her close even more since she was becoming the one that could actually hurt him.

Drive her away was not even sensible, if he would let her go, nothing assured him she would not come back when he was not expecting and destroy everything.

It seemed like a formula for disaster.

There was also what had happened with that energy jolt they exchanged when he bit her neck. He had researched what he felt when he did that, understanding why he thought of such a primitive gesture as a mark.

Ginny refused to talk about it, of course, it was part of the forbidden subjects, she had not liked to hear him say that under the energy wave he felt his magic synchronise with hers as if she had a piece of him inside her and vice versa.

His bite had awakened a bonding spell that seemed to exist between them; it was a crazy idea, but he really felt an extension of him on her, he didn't like it, but he had no control over it.

After realising that, Tom no longer felt he had missed much for not being able to take her pants off, had they continued that way, the bonding would be completed and their souls would be bound for centuries, probably even eternity.

He wanted that short of spells as far away from him as possible.

"Ginevra." He called approaching her face so that when she looked at him, their lips would touch hers and startle her with the sudden proximity.

Ginny pulled away and hit him in the arm with the newspaper. "Don't do that!" She complained, making him laugh.

"We have to open the store." Said Tom, standing up and pushing the chair against the table, waiting for Ginny in the hallway that followed him moments later with a mug of tea in one hand.

That was a new thing for them, always waiting for the other, always being together, not being away from each other more than necessary.

That was even the reason why Ginny haven't gone check her mail as she wished to.

Tom lit the fire and opened the door turning the plaque on the window to 'Open'. He honestly was not expecting to have any customers that day, his clientele used to start their New Year's holiday as early as possible.

He sat on his stool and opened the logbook and waited for the orders of the day to arrive, those never took days off; when Ginny passed next to him, with the dragon skin gloves stuck on the back her skirt and some books in her arms, he couldn't resist but pull her to him, pushing the books to the counter and kiss her.

She looked breath-taking that morning, with her red hair down and naked shoulders. His mark was long gone from the curve of her neck thanks to his potion, but it still was the first place he caressed when he kissed her, even knowing what it meant.

His kiss was hungry and demanding, but Ginny's response was not behind. She slid her hands up his legs, slowly, tracing the inside seam of his pants until his breath hitched.

Ginny no longer felt so guilty about what was going on as she did in the beginning of the week, she still had a voice in the back of her mind that told her it was wrong and she shouldn't do it, so she tried to compensate by not initiating the contact.

Tom was always the first to kiss and touch, not her.

They were both panting when he finally let her go, but she could feel his eyes on her back as she walked away.

Ginny pulled the nearest stairs to the shelf that she had to organise when she realised she was in the very same place where Tom had been the first time she had seen him, which gave her a feeling that something was going to happen that day.

The morning passed quietly, with many pauses for long kisses against the counter; in the afternoon, they received the visit of Albus Dumbledore.

The wizard stood on the door, hands clasped in front of him inside his sleeves and a curious look behind his half-moon glasses.

Ginny glanced at Tom before looking at Dumbledore again, feeling him getting tense and nervous at being caught off guard by Dumbledore's sudden appearance, she could see it in the way he closed his hands in fists over the counter, how hard he was trying to not show disdain. She knew Tom despised his former professor, but only live it was possible to see how much that feeling was intense.

"Hello, Tom." Greeted Dumbledore taking a few steps into the store. "How have you been?" He asked in a friendly manner.

"Very well, thank you." Tom said with an empty smile. "How can I help you, Professor? It certainly has been a long time."

"Oh... I didn't come to buy anything, Tom." He turned to Ginny, who started to step down the ladder. "I came to talk to Miss Ginny."

Tom raising an eyebrow in surprise, trying to think of something that he could have to discuss with Ginny, suddenly feeling angry that she was hiding something of this magnitude from him, that inadvertently and unnecessarily, had put him face to face with the wizard he hated the most.

"Can we talk outside for a moment?" Asked Dumbledore calmly, indifferent to Tom's presence. "I know it's quite cold, but we will not take long."

"Of course." Said Ginny promptly, eager to know what Dumbledore had to say to her, she opened the door and waited for Dumbledore to pass. She felt like she had her heart on her hands, he was as likely to bring the watch fixed and tell how to use it, as he was to tell her he failed and she would be stuck there forever.

"Ginevra." Called Tom before she crossed the threshold of the door, making her and Dumbledore look at him. He was walking towards them while undressing his coat. "Take this." He said, putting it around her shoulders, sliding his hand down her arms in a possessive gesture before stepping back and holding the door to Ginny.

"Thank you, Tom, it will not be long." Ginny assured, but there was nothing she could say or do to make him stay calm. The idea of her being out there with Dumbledore, alone... Dumbledore was a man full of secrets, a very dangerous wizard, he didn't want her alone with him, what if he said something to Ginny that would make her move away from him? What if he would take her to Hogwarts with him?

He would kill him if he interfered.

Tom took a deep breath and shook his head, his reasonable side taking over his thoughts and he walked back to the counter and waited for her to return.

He had always been good at that, biding his time.

Ginny's heart nearly stopped when Dumbledore took the watch from a pocket.

Dumbledore announced with a smile that he had managed to repair the watch, and he even found some clues for how to use it, so he told her how she could turn on the spell that would get her back to 1999. Dumbledore even assured her that she would be able to return to the exact moment she disappeared and no one would know what had happened, which made her give him a wild sincere smile of happiness.

To Dumbledore, one of the most important and one of the most powerful wizards of the century and proud figure on a Chocolate Frog cards, few things passed through unnoticed, and the fact that Ginevra Weasley, accidental time traveller, living, working and apparently more than friendly with Tom Riddle, did not escape him.

Especially that last part.

He was very curious.

"Tom will have the great future that I think he will have, I suppose?" asked Dumbledore, before he left.

Ginny looked at his serious face, the happiness of being able to return home whenever she wanted, suddenly overwritten by reality.

One of the things she had dreaded since moving to the Borgin & Burkes had happened: Dumbledore had found where she was and had personally come to talk to her instead of writing.

Dumbledore was the only one who knew her story in that time; he was the one who could make the association between her story, Tom, the dairy and her in the future.

Now Ginny was regretting telling him anything at all, even her name.

Why had she told him her surname? Why hadn't she changed her name to something else, like Ginevra Granger or Jane Smith or something?

Dumbledore would remember this encounter in the future, she was sure of this, what would he think of her?

She still remembered the morning in his office, after Harry had saved her and destroyed the Horcrux, he was too busy holding on to her mother, feeling guilty for being tricked for something she couldn't see where its brain was, as her father said. Now that look on Dumbledore eyes had other meaning, it was more than sadness, it was interesting, it was curiosity, a question he wouldn't dare ask and that he took to his grave.

Ginny decided to apply the same criteria that she used to justify her reason for not telling Tom about the future, even if Dumbledore was a well-intentioned wizard, he could still make bad decisions.

"I do not know, I never heard of him." Ginny lied, she felt trapped and guilty for lying to the person who was helping her, who had always been there.

Dumbledore smiled sympathetically and took his leave, walking towards the Diagon Alley, wishing her good luck and to tell him if she need help.

Ginny drew Tom's coat tightly against her, seeing the other wizard walk away.

She still had not thought about what she should do regarding Tom now that things were... _complicated_.

A wave of panic crossed her.

Walking inside, she noticed Tom sitting behind the counter, waiting for her, expecting her to share her conversation with Dumbledore.

"So?"

"I'm going home." said Ginny, watching wordlessly as the half-smile slid off his face.

* * *

 **A/N:** Kudos for my beta Sinsinnatus from Tumblr!


	10. Chapter 10

The way Tom looked at her seemed to say everything but at the same time, it said nothing, the blank expression he wore as a mask was perfectly in place, unfathomable and horrible.

Ginny slowly crossed the store, folding Tom's coat and placed on the counter in front of him and then put the clock next to it since she didn't have any pockets to put it away. He knew about the watch, but it was also better if thought it was just a simple pocket watch and not something special. "Don't be like that, Tom." She pleaded gently, but Tom did not look at her, he closed the logbook and put it on the shelf behind him

Skirting the counter, Ginny walked toward Tom and hesitated before placing her hand on his shoulder, feeling that the gesture would not be welcome by the way his shoulders tensed when she stopped behind him. "You knew I was not going to stay here forever, and I am sure we will see each other again." She tried to cheer him.

She knew they would see each other again, but not in the best way. Ginny herself, when she returned back to her time, she would never see him again, after all, Tom Riddle was dead; but he would, he would see her through the diary, even it was the Horcrux that would talk to her, charming her with sweet nothings and false promises.

Ginny had no time to react when he suddenly pulled her and pushed her against the shelf, and closed her eyes. She could feel Tom's breath against her face because of how close he was, she could feel his hand slip around her waist and the other hand grasping the wood next to her head, but did not find the courage to stare the back at the blue eyes that glared at her.

Ginny took a trembling breath and opened her eyes and smiled, she let her hands gently rest on his chest, as if he had not been violent. She focused on the beating heart beneath her hands, feeling it calm, under control, reminding her that this beating heart did not belong to a normal man.

"Don't be dramatic, Tom." She said, putting her arms around his neck and placing a kiss on the corner of his mouth, trying to call for a kiss the line of irritation his lips had become. "It's not the end, I like you, I want to see you again." She caressed his face, speaking softly, the words sounding strange to her ears. "I really do." She assured him, but her words did not seem to reach him.

She could feel him boiling beneath the surface.

"Tom?"

Tom blinked slowly and smiled, one of those empty smiles she hated and he finally pressed his lips against hers, making her sigh of relief when she felt him pulling her against him, even though it was not what she wanted that moment.

"Of course, we will see each other again, Ginevra." Tom muttered against her lips. "I will not let you go so easily." He added.

"Oh, Tom..."

"We will think about something." Tom cut her off before she could say anything else, stopping the conversation there, the conversation he did not want to have.

Ginny spent the rest of the afternoon re-arranging the shelf she was working on before Dumbledore arrived, and Tom kept himself busy in the warehouse, reviewing the inventory and moving boxes around, he needed to stay away from her. Tom admitted to himself he had not reacted well to the news that she was leaving, and it had not been a good idea to push her that hard against the bookshelf, fortunately, she had not reacted badly, because if she had had the audacity of pushing him away before he got his temper under control… He sighed.

Later that night, Ginny was cooking, something she refused to do for him since that day he had made his cauldron explode, rarely sharing whatever she cooked whit him, telling him to make his own food each time he tried to taste whatever was smelling good that day, and telling him she was not his maid.

Tom sighed; it seemed that that night was special.

"This is a goodbye dinner, right?" He asked sitting at the table, near the fireplace, with his back to her, focusing on the flames crackling in the fireplace, feeling cold. The warehouse was the coldest area of the store and despite having spent the afternoon walking around, he was still feeling uncomfortable.

"Kind of." Said Ginny tasting the food and adding salt to the pot. "But don't be like that." She said, feeling ridiculous saying those words, it was weird to be trying to comfort him. Merlin, she was not talking to Harry, assuring him that the one-week training with the Holyhead Harpies would pass in the blink of an eye and he would not even notice her absence.

"When are you going?"

"I'm not sure, I suppose when things here are okay for me to go." She said looking over her shoulder, but he was still facing the fireplace. "I think I've to give a few days for you to find someone to replace me, no?"

"We already have someone in mind, to tell the truth, we are settling the contract with him, after all, we still need someone to deal with the international business." Tom admitted with a sigh. "I suppose you can go whenever you want."

"Oh..." That was good, she could just leave whenever she wanted then, but she did not want to imprint in Tom the idea that, in fact, he could be right and associate something to her departure, he already had some strange ideas that were enough to lift problems.

Besides, after what had begun to happen between them, she felt it was important to close the _thing_ , or whatever it was, that they had.

It was a question of delicacy, even if she did not have to do it because he was freaking Lord Voldemort and he did not care for silly things like feelings.

"I would really appreciate if you stayed to go to Hepzibah Smith's party tomorrow. She is counting on two representatives of the store and I really don't want to go alone." Tom kind of cringed at the thought of having to spend the night with the old witch and probably her very old friends with bad perfume.

"Since you asked so nicely, I'll go with you to keep you safe from the wicked witch and hold your hand." Ginny put the food on the plates and sat down. "But only if you promise me that Abraxas will really not be there."

Tom laughed amused. "Thank you for your kind consideration Ginevra, about Abraxas, I know he was invited, but he is probably on his way to France, I doubt that he would ever want to mix with the guests of that party, not even I want; I honestly would rather stay here at the store, but business is business." Tom muttered that last part and started to eat.

"That is not very nice to say."

"You'll see what I'm talking about tomorrow, that party will be full of the Malfoy's party rejects and mudbloods, all eager for attention and status. It will be boring." He assured her with disdain between mouthfuls, not seeing the perplexed look that Ginny was giving him. It was the first time she heard him talk that way and it was weird, she cleared her throat before speaking and changed the subject. She did not want to spoil the more or less immaculate image she had of Tom Riddle, it was enough to see him with Death Eaters.

She would prefer to leave the prejudices associated with Lord Voldemort.

"I don't know what to wear tomorrow, my best dress is completely ruined and full of bad memories." Ginny said trying to sound disappointed.

"You can always go buy a new one tomorrow." Tom suggested and pointed his fork at her. "I think something dark would look good at you, maybe black."

"I don't really like black dresses, went to too many funerals in black dresses to like to use those in parties." Ginny waited for him to say something, but Tom continued to eat. "But buying a new dress may not be a bad idea."

"Of course it's not." Tom agreed.

They ate the rest of the meal in silence and Tom put the dishes in the sink when they finished, then sat down next to Ginny and took the watch she had left next to his coat a few hours ago.

"You left this downstairs." He said, holding the clock by the current between his fingers. Ginny had not forgotten it, she knew he had it, but calling on him to give it back would raise his attention.

They had been living together for so long, he kind of had entrusted his Horcrux to her a few times, confident it would make no harm, and now Ginny didn't want to give him the impression she may be thinking he was keeping it on purpose or was going to steal it.

However, it seemed that her plan had not worked.

Tom remembered that watch, the nervous way she had collected the pieces on the day she saw her for the first time. It should be important to Albus Dumbledore, in person, come deliver it to her.

"Why did Dumbledore had this?" He asked swinging the watch.

Ginny stood up and sighed, then she smiled condescending him, trying to let him know that she was in no mood to his questions and crazy theories about time travellers and such without actually having to say it out aloud. She grabbed the watch, but Tom did not let go of the chain; he simply stared at her, waiting for an explanation.

"Dumbledore is a friend of my family, he knows the importance this watch has to us and offered himself to find someone to fix it." Ginny explained, trying to pull the clock from his grasp again.

"And why is this important?"

"It's an inheritance."

"And you walk around with a value inheritance, falling around and breaking it?" Tom stated pulling the chain towards him.

"The reason is only for me to know, Tom." Ginny leant forward for a moment, a dour expression on her face. "And unless you don't stop with the questions and give me back the watch, I may decide that I would rather spend the New Year eve with my family instead of you."

Tom smiled, "That's really mean, and I thought we were friends." He could keep it, use it to blackmail her, but he chose not to do it. This was not time. "Why are you so manipulative?"

"I'm not manipulative." Ginny argued.

He gave a dry laugh. "So you're a terrible liar."

Ginny hesitated for a moment whether she should argue with him or not, but chose to leave the kitchen and leave Tom in favour of a few minutes of solitude in the attic.

"Do the dishes!" She said from the hallway.

Tom rolled his eyes and turned back to the fire, after a moment, he took a deep breath, massaging the bridge of the nose. What should he do? Leaning forward and resting his elbows on his knees, he dribbled past the flames that crackled in front of him, eating the wood the same way that everything that involved Ginny was eating him on the inside.

Of course, he knew this would happen, she would eventually leave the Borgin & Burkes, but it was not the fact that she would stay there or not that bothered him. He told himself that that witch was irrelevant to him, he was curious, no doubt, but it stayed around there. The fact that she knew him so well, how the magic of the two almost vibrated in the same tone, promising something he could not identify and honestly was not sure he wanted to know what it actually was. All of it retained several hours of his time, ever-present in the back of his mind as background noise that he could not turn off.

He really wanted to know.

But it was the conversation that Dumbledore had had with her that bothered him that day. Ginny had not told him what they had talked when she got back inside, and she was not doing it not, no matter how much he wanted her to, no matter how many times he asked.

Since Dumbledore had first spoken to him, on that grey morning at the orphanage, he decided he had to be careful with that man. Dumbledore was a dangerous wizard, manipulative, who would stop at nothing to get what he wanted, using everything in his power to do it, even if he had to wait years.

He could see under the image Dumbledore projected, as he knew that Dumbledore could see a little under his, and so he had made his research.

Tom knew about the _close_ involvement that the wizard had with his childhood friend, now criminal, accused of hate crimes, Grindelwald. He knew about the sympathy that he had originally shown towards his views, and how reticent he had been in relation to confronting Grindelwald when he decided to adopt a tougher stance on the blood purity of the wizardry society.

He was the only wizard powerful enough to stop the wave of murder and torture that Grindelwald was causing, but only when he could no longer endure the pressure of the public opinion that he decided to confront him. Nothing had done it, not the threats by the Minister of Magic, the promises of Dippet of firing him from Hogwarts, arguments with his brother and even some awareness campaigns from his students, led him to take a stand.

It was only when his name began to be dragged through the mud and his life investigate by the papers to search for points that proved that, deep down, he supported his old friend, that he challenged Grindelwald to a duel.

And yet, to great shock of the community, he had not been able to kill him.

He was still confident in his theory that she did not belong to that time, had it been Dumbledore to send her to the past? What had he planned?

Tom was running out of time to solve the mystery, with her departure next week she only had a couple of days to make her talk.

Maybe he could use a potion.

Tom walked downstairs and entered the warehouse, stopping in front of the cluttered potions shelf, the stock that he prided himself on always keeping updated. He moved the bottles, making the glass ring when it knocked against each other when he turned them around to read the labels.

 _Veritaserum_.

He pulled the small blue vial out and slid a finger along label, thoughtful. It was an option, a non-invasive approach; she would never know what was happening until she began to explain how she knew about Lord Voldemort.

He put the vial back in its place, the problem with that option was that the Veritaserum left a trail of the person that took it; if she decided to file a complaint with the Aurors, telling them that she had used that potion on her... the consequences would be… very bothersome.

There was a reason it was the official potion to use on the court.

No, this was not the option.

He started up the stairs to the attic, he really did not have many hypotheses that did not have a violent end for her and unpleasant consequences for him.

What he would not give to simply put her under a curciatus and make her scream until she begged him to stop, vowing to tell him everything she had been hiding from him.

Tom ran his fingers through his hair. That would be really satisfying. The true meaning of freedom. Do whatever he wanted without worrying about the consequences of what he was doing, not having to hide his actions from others.

Ginny was sitting on the couch, reading and did not look at him when he entered the attic, holding the blanket she had taken from the bed closer to herself when he closed the door behind him.

He sighed tired, he really was not in the mood to be ignored, and he hated when she did that, it was as if he was insignificant.

He took the nearest book with him from the desk and lay on the couch against Ginny, letting his head rest on her shoulder.

He read the first lines of the book before closing it and looking at the cover, regretting not having paid attention when picking it up; it was Ginny's book: Pride and Prejudice. Not only it was a Muggle story but the theme of it seemed to be absolutely ridiculous. He closed the book and rested it against his chest, closing his eyes and focusing on the sound of the wind outside and in the movement of Ginny's chest made beneath him while she breathes, expecting her to say something.

"Have you decided what you're going to do tomorrow?" He asked, not letting his annoyance show in his voice. "Ginevra?" He called her when she did not answer.

"I suppose. What are you going to do tomorrow?"

"You're not trying to ask me to go shopping with you, are you now?" Tom asked back and reopened Ginny's book and looked up, trying to see her reaction, pleased to see her smile.

"I'm just asking." She said, amused by the ridiculous idea of going shopping with Lord Voldemort.

"I have some things I need to review." He explained closing the book again.

"But it's the last day of the year, I think you should rest." Ginny put an arm around Tom, resting a hand on his chest, closing her book as well to look at him.

"I think I have rested enough this week." He remarked. "It has been years since I've gone to bed so early."

"Well, it's not like you've been sleeping earlier." Ginny poked a finger on his chest. He was telling the truth, they have been going to bed quite early that week when comparing to the ones before, he would always take a book with him and read some pages while she rested against him doing the day's crosswords from the Daily Prophet, but she always had to finish her puzzle the next morning because he quickly grew boring of his books and preferred to focus on her. "I think it has done you good, you no longer have those awful dark circles under your eyes. You looked like…" Ginny hesitated, suddenly remembering that morning, at Sirius's house, when the twins and she had made fun of his appearance, drawing a moustache and angry eyebrows over the first photo the press had gotten of him after his return. "a snake-thing…"

"A snake? A snake-thing" He frowned and looked forward confused. "What does that even mean? I can't believe you just told me that." He said, sounding dramatically incredulous.

Ginny covered her mouth and laugh, she could not believe she had told him that either. "I'm sorry, anyway, tomorrow you will certainly snatch all of Hephzibah's friends from her and all of them will come and visit you here in the store with fake excuses of business just to see you."

"That's not funny, Ginevra." He protested, actually horrified by the idea of several ugly old witches dressed in overly expensive clothes lining up on his counter, talking loudly among the shelves, probably breaking everything that crossed the hefty and puff skirts of their dresses and leaving a reek of bad perfume behind. "Why are you doing this to me?" He asked, sounding hurt.

"Anything that involves your suffering makes me very happy." She provoked.

"Why are you so cruel?" He grumbled. "I don't treat you like this." He stood up and dropped the book at the desk on his way to the wardrobe.

"Don't be mad!" Ginny asked with a sarcastic smile.

"I'm very hurt by your words, Ginevra, you don't understand." He said very serious before closing the curtains between him and her laughter, to change for the night.

"A snake-thing…" She heard him echo and smiled.

* * *

"Where are you going?" Tom asked with a hoarse voice, barely raising his head from the pillow, with narrowed eyes, holding her sweater when she sat.

"I'm going shopping." Ginny explained. "Do you want to come?" She asked looking at him, a smile in the corner of her lips as she looked down at a very sleepy Dark Lord with dishevelled hair and frowning with the effort of thinking.

How many women had seen him like this?

How many had survived that sight?

It probably was a rare privilege to have, if it could be called that.

"Merlin, no!" He mumbled and turned on his side, getting his back to her and pulling the covers over his head.

"Are you sure? It will be fun!" She asked leaning her head on his shoulder.

"Just go away..."

Ginny laughed and stood up with a yawn.

"Be back after lunch." He told her, his voice muffled by the blankets.

"Yes, my lord…" She assured him, but he did not reply to her sarcasm.

Ginny started the day at the Leaky Cauldron with a reinforced breakfast by the high counter and the newspaper of the day, eating the eggs with big bites, ignoring her hair strands that were diving on the bacon fat inside the dish.

She was startled when someone touched her, putting her hair behind the ear. "Abraxas..." She said with venom in her voice and straighten her back, holding the newspaper tightly in her hand. She looked incredulous at him, seeing him lean against the counter beside her.

"How are you? I did not expect to see you here! I was on my way to the house in France when I remembered I needed to buy some things." Malfoy asked and explained with a smile on his handsome face.

"How's your face?" Ginny closed the newspaper; she had just lost her appetite and could not care less about what he was doing there.

Malfoy smirked but did not respond to the provocation. "I'm surprised to see you here alone, Ginny."

"Don't be, I'm on my why out." Ginny moved her legs to the side to get down her stool but Malfoy put his hand on her arm before she was able to move away.

"Look, I am really sorry for what happened at the party." He said, squeezing her arm. "Tom told me that it was not worth trying to talk to you, but I would really like us to keep friends." He said setting a hand on her waist.

This was not her average stupid, this a special kind of stupid. He had a huge nerve at even getting close to her.

But he was past now, she was going home.

"Abraxas." She stood up, stepping away from and stated to put her cloak on. "I am going home."

"So quick to go back to Tom? I really just want to talk with you. Did Tom get you my pearls? Did you like them?" He asked, tilting his head to the side.

"No Abraxas." She sighed. "I mean home home, to my family."

"You are quitting your job with Tom?" He asked confused.

"Yes." Merlin, he was slow. "I'm quitting my job with Tom and I'm going home."

"And what about Tom?" He asked, looking slightly worried. "What had he said?"

"Nothing?" Ginny sighed again. "I'm just leaving the job, not him. I actually can't wait for him to visit me, meet my family."

"Oh…" Abraxas looked at the floor. "So it's serious."

"Of course, what did you expected? I like him quite a bit, he likes me…" Ginny squeezed her eyes at him. "Why? Are you not thinking about inviting me out do you now? After what you did?"

He didn't answer, and she didn't know what could possibly go through his mind.

"You're a disgusting human being, Abraxas, but if it's forgiveness you came looking for, I give it to you Abraxas. I forgive you." Ginny told him, walking around him to the back of the pub, to find her way into Diagon Alley.

She really hoped he would forget about her.

* * *

Ginny was sitting in her favourite chair in the Muggle section of the Flourish & Blots, she really loved to be there, it remembered her of her dad. On her way up, she had found a planner for 1947 written by a good-humoured wizard with tips for those travelling in time near the door and had taken it with her.

She had reread the entries at least three times and on the last time she even though some of the suggestions were somewhat valid, but that was her desperate side talking.

She pushed the planner on the shelf in front of her and looked out, watching London's rooftops of that stretched out of sight and the fog that was still unfolding in some of the more

Ginny had considered for the briefest of moments to change his memories of her, since she knew Abraxas Malfoy was not going to have a life as busy as Tom Riddle, and she really didn't want him to recognizing her in some photo and talk about it to Lucius or worse, talk directly with Lord Voldemort which would probably allow him to make the associations that he was not being able to do now.

She was sure that Voldemort would want to talk to her if that happened.

But if she was sitting on that armchair in 1946 alive and well, then she had to be reasonable, he would not remember her, he would not speak to Voldemort.

There was nothing to worry about, and she felt relieved, happy to be able to avoid a confrontation.

She took a book from the shelf and leant back, smelled the new pages and began to read.

She had always planned to stay there during the morning, spend the morning resting and trying not to think about the wizard she had left sleeping in the attic of the Borgin & Burkes.

Definitely not going back to the store after lunch like Tom requested.

He was not that important to tell her how to manage her personal time.

Ginny sighed, her lips a thin line when she looked out the window again, thinking about Malfoy, the way they crossed that morning, she hoped she had done the right thing.

Maybe the Universe would allow her to make the right decisions about Tom as well.

"Ginny!" Burke's voice echoed through the nearly empty floor of the store just before lunch, scaring one or other customer nearby. "We finally found you!"

Ginny looked startled at the wizard with his hands on his hips and looking at her with a board smile on his face, and then behind him, she saw a very cranky Tom Riddle.

"We went to all the clothing stores in this damn street! We were about to give up!" He said even loudly, without any respect for the other clients that started to walk away shaking their heads.

"Yes Ginevra, all the nine stores on this street." Tom clarified, sarcastically, letting her know that he had not found the tour minimally exciting.

"I'm so sorry." Ginny said with a smile, closing the book on her lap.

"Apologising does not feed anyone!" Burke said with an honest laugh. "Borgin wants to buy us lunch at the Leaky Cauldron to celebrate the birth of his kid and a very profitable year for our business."

"Sounds good!" Exclaimed Ginny before getting up from her chair, then she put the book back on its place and walked to the two wizards, adjusting her cloak over her shoulders.

Burke was the first to start walking down the stairs, followed by Tom and then Ginny, but Tom suddenly stopped and she barely managed to stop before crashing into him.

"Caref-" Tom interrupted her by placing a hand behind her knee beneath the hem of her skirt and looking at her with a slight frown.

"I thought you had gone to buy a new dress." He said, implying he did not like that she had told him one thing and done another without telling him.

"And I went, but I did not see anything I liked." She lied with a smile, but he continued to stare at her for a moment before smiling.

"Well then, good luck with looking presentable at my side." He grimed, moving his hand up her leg.

"That ego is going to be your end, Tom." Ginny stepped down and pushed him to the side to pass, then pulled him down by his coat.

Borgin was already waiting for them at the pub, an open bottle of wine almost by half and a quick smile to greet them.

Lunch dragged on in the afternoon and it would have continued until the end of the night if Tom and Ginny did not have to go back to the store and get ready to Madame Hephzibah's party. They were putting their capes on when Borgin pulled Ginny aside.

"My wife sent you this." Borgin handed her a paper bag. "It is for you two," he pointed with his head in Tom's direction, that made gave him a brief look back before talking back to Burke. "But I know how girls like to see these things first."

"Oh..." Ginny whispered, trying not to look offended by his observation. She opened the bag and took the photograph that Mrs Borgin had taken on Christmas Eve when they had returned early from Malfoy's party. "Oh..." She repeated loudly and in surprise, not knowing what to say when she saw the Tom on the photo kiss her. "Mr Borgin..." She began, then she cleared her throat and looked at him, then back at the photo. "I cann _ot_ believe you had _this_ framed!" She exclaimed looking at him with a smile that she hoped could pass for something sincere and happy. "Thank you..." She took a deep breath. "So much…"

"You do not like it?" Asked Borgin, sensing her discomfort.

Did she like to have her photo taken with Lord Voldemort while he kissed her and she looked like she had been run over by a bunch of angry goblins? "I love it, and I'm sure Tom will love it as well... it's the perfect gift..." She looked with horror at the photo for the last time before putting it back in the bag. "It's our only photo together so far..." She took the bag to her chest and pressed it hard against her. "It will deserve a special place in our attic."

"By the way, about that, I talked to Burke, and because of the profits that we had this year," He put a hand on Ginny's shoulders. "We decided to give you both a small gift, it's nothing special, but it will be enough for you to rent a good house." He finished with a smile.

Ginny started to cringe. What kind of joke was this?

What would come next? An incentive to pay for her marriage with Lord Voldemort?

She definitely had to go back home as fast as she could.

* * *

"What's wrong?" Tom asked the moment he stepped into the kitchen after her. "You had the most peculiar expression..."

"Oh! It's nothing!" Ginny turned to him, placed the bag on the table and taking off her cloak. "Borgin gave me our photo… he had it framed…" She cringed.

Tom looked at her with a smug air and picked up the bag, removing the frame from the inside, lingering to look. "You look horrible…" He said, then sneered at her. "I think I'll put it right here, above the fireplace, so that everyone can see this." He pushed a few candles aside to put the frame on and crossed his arms, amused by the awkward air Ginny had on the photo and the look of surprise on her face when he raised off the ground to kiss her. "No… I think it will look better at the store, on the counter."

"Don't even think about it!" She blurted. "I'm going to burn that thing!" She walked past him and took the frame off the fireplace, but he holds her wrist and pulled her arm above her head, making her lean against him.

"What are you doing?" He asked amused by her sudden panicked look.

"I really don't want that photo." She huffed making him push her arm even higher and smirk, until she was on her tiptoes.

"Well, but you're not the only one in the photo, and I really don't see what's so bad about it that you should burn it."

Ginny paled at his words.

That photo was the only thing that proved that she had been in 1946 with him, and despite the awkward way she looked and the slightly uncomfortable stand he had beside her, the kiss was enough to the simplest mind in the world to point that there probably was something going on between them that should not be happening.

However, he really was not going to let her burn it now.

Ginny rested her forehead against him and mumbled her thoughts. "I really look horrible, and it reminds me of Malfoy."

"What?" He asked surprised. "Nonsense, Ginevra!" He released her arm and hold her chin to make her look at him before caressing her face. "If you don't want to see it fine, put it in the wardrobe in the attic, but don't be dramatic."

She sighed and put the frame back on the paper bag, then she turned around and hit him with it on the arm, startling him. "Fine! Have it your way…" She looked at him with hate and walked out the kitchen.

She could always burn it tomorrow.

Ginny climbed the stairs to the attic with him right behind her and crossed the room to put it on top of the wardrobe.

"Happy?" She asked.

Tom leant against the doorjamb with his hands in his pockets. "Maybe this really was the right decision; it was not an everyday horrible that is saved in that photo, it was worse…"

"Just shut up, Tom!" Ginny retorted turning her back to him and started to open the drawers of her dresser taking off clothes from the inside, trying to find what to wear to the party.

* * *

Tom was knotting his tie in the wardrobe mirror, looking at Ginny sitting on the couch putting her shoes on through the reflection. "I know I told you, you could go whenever you wanted, because you have no contract with the store, but I'd like you to stay another week."

"Why?" She asked looking at him, noticing his gaze.

"Just to be sure I will not be alone if we get a new wave of customers on the first day of the year; with completely unpredictable Aurors like we have now, there is a good chance they will do some searches tonight to try to get people out of guard and do some arrests." He closed the door and turned to Ginny, straightening his tie and started to button his vest over it.

"I guess I can... but just a week." She said, pointing a finger at him. She was not staying another week there, she was going to get everything done and be out of there before the middle of the week.

She felt a pang of nervousness going through her, she had to make a decision regarding him.

"It should be enough." He smiled; pleased for her giving him the time he needed to think about what he should do.

"Okay." She stood up. "Are you ready?"

"Yes, let's go." He said putting his coat on and followed her down the stairs.

* * *

Tom had made sure they would be late to the party, it was not something he usually did, but he really hoped that Hepzibah Smith, as the host, would be too busy talking to her guests to notice their arrival. However, his plan did not work, Madame Hepzibah saw them, or better, she saw him, at the moment they walked out of the fireplace and made sure to welcome them and sit them at the long dining table by her side.

It forced some changes on the part of the guests who were already occupying those places, which left them quite offended, especially after learning that they were doing the favour for two Borgin & Burkes employees.

Tom was immediately to the right of Hepzibah and Ginny sat down beside him. Soon she began to have some trouble hiding from Tom, how hilarious she found the excessive attention that the old witch was giving him.

Even when Tom had taken her hand and placed on the table, to try to show that he had brought company, Hepzibah had stopped pulling on his arm to call his attention.

One of the advantages of being, very, very old, Ginny guessed, tightening Tom's hand in solidarity.

Dinner dragged almost to midnight, for everything she said, Hepzibah asked twice for Tom's opinion and it was she could see him getting very annoyed each time she did it. He was relieved that he put his arm around Ginny's waist when Hepzibah invited the room to go to the garden, where they could enjoy the firework she prepared to welcome the New Year.

"Where have you been, Ginevra? I thought you came to keep me safe from her." He said near her ear. "But it feels like I came alone..."

"I didn't realise you needed help, you were doing so well..." Ginny said with a laugh. "And her friends? Did you notice? They are going to be the wave of customers you were worried about this afternoon. I hope you are ready."

"I cannot say that you are wrong…" He straightened letting his eyes roam the starry sky. "Sometimes I get customers like her that make me question whether is not the time to find a new job."

"I'm really very sorry about you." Ginny stated with a smile.

"I thought you liked to see me suffer."

"You're right, I'm not sorry at all." Ginny laughed, resting her head on Tom's shoulder as he pulled her closer to him.

The waiters Hepzibah had hired for the party began to walk among the guests with trays of champagne glasses, giving them to the guests.

Suddenly one of them announced the start of the countdown and the environment was suddenly very excited, buzzing with the anticipation.

"Tom ..." Ginny suddenly called him, lowering her glass from her lips. "Isn't today your birthday?" She asked looking at him concerned for having forgotten.

"Yes, it is today." Tom said slightly annoyed that she remembered, he did not expect her to do so, he didn't like to mark that day with anything but the day before the first day of the New Year.

"Well, then congratulations!"

Tom kissed her at the time the firework started to fly, bursting with colours and unusual shapes, contrasting with the stars that served as their background.

"Thanks you." He said as he pulled away, stroking her face and looking at her intensely before kissing her again.

* * *

After the show, Hepzibah took her guests back inside to the dining hall, where she had the table removed to open the room for dancing. In the background was a band playing live music, a sound completely antiqued that left the younger guest hesitant about what they should do.

Tom and Ginny sat in the armchairs in front of the fireplace, getting quickly bored with the party. They were not dancing, she still dreaded that and he did not like to do it. This time, Tom had none of his former colleagues to talk and Nott was not there to save Ginny.

From time to time, Madame Hepzibah would walk to them and demand that Tom danced with her, and he would return every time feeling sick and looking like death.

"When do you think it will be appropriate for us to go back to the store?"

Tom looked at the clock above the fireplace. "Another hour and I think we can go without offending anyone."

"Hmm..."

"Did I told you that Malfoy invited us to go to France with him?" Muttered Tom. "He wrote me yesterday to ask if I was sure we really did not want to go." He looked at her as if he had made the biggest sacrifice ever. "But work has priority." He smiled when Ginny glared at him.

"I saw Abraxas this morning." Tom rested his glass on his leg and frowned at her.

"And how did it go?" He asked in a cold voice.

"It went well; we are again, the best friends ever!" Ginny answered with a grin.

"Ginevra, seriously... tell me what happened." Tom leant forward, an expression of contempt on his face. "If he touched you, I'll-" He stopped, not really wanting to tell her what he wanted to do to Malfoy. He drunk the rest of his drink before looking at her again.

"I'm not lying, he wanted to apologise, asked if I accepted the pearls and then he went away when I promised him that I would forgive him. He begged me not to tell you, I kind of got pity on him. He seemed really sorry."

"Ginny, he begged?" Tom looked at her, confused for a moment before leaning over her. "What have you done to him?" He asked.

"Nothing… what do you mean? I'm joking…" Ginny feinted confused by his accusation.

"Abraxas Malfoy does not beg." Tom leant even closer. "What happened? Moreover, what was he doing at the Leaking Cauldron? I thought he was in France..." He said more to himself.

Ginny opened her mouth a few times, but Madame Hepzibah did her the favour of standing in front of her, cutting her from Tom's line of sight.

"Tom!" She said in her shrill voice. "I spent the night looking for you!" She exaggerated as if she had not dragged him to the dance floor less than an hour before and he has not been sitting on that armchair since they came from the garden.

"Madame Hepzibah." Tom said with a forced smile, trying to keep his knees from touching her bright pink dress and leaning back to escape the strong and aggressive perfume that surrounded her. "May I help you?" He asked dryly, but on the most professional way he could, like he did every time she came looking for him.

"There are two objects that I would like to show you, a way to thank you for coming. They are my most valuable assets, and I have been dying to show them to you, but was waiting for the right occasion!"

"Oh!" Said Ginny lurking behind Hepzibah with an incisive smile. " _Two_ objects, Tom!" She said sarcastically. "Do you want to sell Madame?" She asked, drawing the attention of the witch to herself, which looked her up and down, judging her appearance. She glanced at Tom, who had covered his eyes with one hand.

"Sell?" Hepzibah echoed when she finished assessing Ginny dark blue skirt and the white shirt she had left unbuttoned to show the colourful necklace wrapped around her neck. "I do not think so, unless Tom offers me a good price for them." She said turning back to Tom who has since had risen and placed his hands behind his back.

"Certainly, Tom will find an appropriate value to provide for your _two_ objects Madame Hepzibah." Ginny circumvented the witch's hefty dress skirts and put her hand on the curve of Tom's arm. "Are you not, Tom?" She asked him, making him look at her in a murderous way and give her a grim smile, but did not answer her.

"Let us go into the drawing room, I will ask Hokey to bring them to us." Hepzibah said, not noticing any of Ginny's sarcasm, turning on her heel and beginning to walk out to the hall, waving to guests as she passed them by, stopping to compliment the clothing of one or other wherein she noticed something that caught her eye.

"I hate you." Said Tom, nodding at her and closing his arm tightly against his ribs, locking her wrist in-between.

Ginny sighed and pinched him when he began to hurt her.

They quickly crossed the corridors to the drawing room and Hepzibah did not stop talking a second of the way there, describing some of the art pieces they passed by.

Hepzibah sat them by the fire and went back outside to call her old house-elf, claiming she wanted to keep the surprise until the end and did not want them to hear anything before.

The witch quickly went back inside, sitting on the couch, overly close to Tom and proceeded to ignore Ginny, sitting in an ugly armchair in front of them.

Ginny had to cough to hide the laughter that threatened to leave her. She was in 1946 for nearly two months, two long, stressful and strange months living with Tom Riddle, but what she was seeing… A Tom Riddle leaning against a corner of a couch, absolutely uncomfortable for the wanton proximity of a witch he clearly despised but had to respect since she was very old and one of the most profitable customers the Borgin & Burkes had. This was the memory that she would keep from this time, and she vowed to always remember it every time she heard the word Voldemort.

"Master?" Said a hoarse, high-pitched voice behind the couch. "Here is what you asked, Master." The old house-elf, wrapped in a relatively clean pillowcase raised a silver platter from behind the couch.

The witch took an ornamented cup of the platter with her fingertips and held it up in front of her face so that Tom could see it well, it was her favourite and she was sure he would adore it as well, but Tom's eyes were fixed on another object resting on the platter.

Ginny gasped when he raised it, a wave of horror spreading through her as she understood what was happening in front of her.

Pending from Tom's fingers was a golden chain, and in the end was a locket that swung from one side to the other reflecting the light of the flames of the fireplace. Tom stared at it, completely absorbed by its movements; lips parted in surprise before he closed them again and clenched his teeth, pressing a sudden trembling hand against the cushion. Ginny could see the effort he was doing to keep himself under control; she noticed the white knuckles of the hand holding the chain.

More under control, Tom held the locket with the other hand and stroked the 'S', slowly and carefully, as if afraid the locket would disintegrate in his hand with a blunt touch.

"Salazar Slytherin's locket..." He said in a whisper.

"And Helga Hufflepuff's cup!" Added Hepzibah shaking the cup to catch his attention, but he did not seem to hear her.

Ginny began to get nervous as well; she had the feeling that she was witnessing an event that she should not see, and she was not welcomed there.

She tried to remember what Harry had told her about Tom, on this particular event, how many days were? How many days had he taken to return to this house and kill Hepzibah Smith for that locket?

"Madame Hephzibah, where did you found this?" He asked with a smile laying down the locket on his leg and forcing Hepzibah to lower Hufflepuff's cup so that he could be able to look her in the eyes.

"Borgin & Burkes of course!" She announced happily. "Years ago, it was a small fortune! I think your boss, Burke, completely robbed me, but I think I was the one that owns in the end."

Ginny wondered if she could prevent Hephzibah's death and Tom creating the Horcrux in the locket.

"And how did it ended at the Borgin & Burkes? Do you know?" Asked Tom, closing his hand around the medallion, fixing his gaze on Hepzibah, mesmerising her with the depth of his blue eyes, lighted by a barely contained passion that he only revealed when he was achieving something he wanted.

Ginny saw him mutter the Legilimency spell but Hepzibah did not notice, and when she told him in a rushed tone how a pregnant and stupid girl sold that _almost_ priceless relic for ten galleons, Ginny was sure she could do nothing to save Hepzibah.

The simple fact that Hepzibah had the locket was already to put Tom on the line, for her daring to touch something that belonged to his family; he wanted to jump on her right there. However, that last comment marked her sentence.

Despite his thoughts regarding the woman that had given birth to him.

"It certainly was a good deal." He said, reluctantly putting the locket on the platter, but not expressing any other emotion.

"It really was, but he only told me this story after I bought the locket. I was so mad that I did not do my business with your store for decades, it was thanks to you that I started doing it again." Hepzibah went from looking offended by the memories of that purchase for a downright smile when Tom faintly touched her hands to hold Hufflepuff's cup.

"Hmm..." Tom turned the cup in his hand, carefully watching the decoration.

"And you are interested in re-selling these objects to the Borgin & Burkes, is that right?" Asked Tom putting the cup next to the medallion in the platter that the elf still held behind the couch.

"Sell, no, maybe. How much do these objects will be worth now?" Asked Hepzibah squinting.

"I have no way to tell you that right now, I'll have to do some research, compare with similar objects, and study the market in this niche..." Hepzibah sighed bored making him stop talking.

"Will you come have dinner with me and tell me everything you find out about them during it, dear?" She told him with a smile.

"Yes, of course, Madame Hepzibah." Tom stood up, not able to be in the presence of those objects any longer without being able to touch them, and reached out for Ginny to help her raise.

"Let's return to the dance!" Exclaimed Hepzibah rising as well and walking to the door, immediately followed by the elf who opened the door for them. Hepzibah waited for the two in the hall, but Tom stopped by the elf, looking a last time to Slytherin's locket, his pupils dilated, leaving his eyes blacker than blue.

"Tom... are we going?" Ginny called him, patting his arm to get his attention.

"Yes." He said starting to walk but unable to look away from the old elf until he bowed and closed the door on them.

They sat by the fire again, but Tom could not stay still, alternating between sitting on the arm of Ginny's armchair and standing by the fire.

"What's the matter, Tom?" Ginny asked when he sat for the third time on her armchair, refilling his glass from the firewhisky bottle he had asked the waiter to leave on the table next to them.

Seeing him like this made her very anxious, she had never seen him like this.

"Nothing, why?" Asked Tom staring intently at her, slightly biting his lip and smiling.

"It's because of Slytherin's locket isn't it?" Asked Ginny, making him raise an eyebrow. "Is this how all Slytherins react when they come across Slytherin's bling?"

"Slytherin's bling?" Tom repeated not recognising the expression she had used, but shook his head and ignored it, for her relief. "Each of the founders of Hogwarts left behind an object. All of them have some degree of magic, something personal. They are simple objects for the time they lived on but are now famous for having belonged to them.

"Gryffindor left his sword; it has been with Dumbledore for years, but we don't know what it does since it has been missing for centuries and Dumbledore refuses to let the Department of Mysteries study it. Ravenclaw left a diadem, which is still missing, Hufflepuff left a cup and Slytherin left his locket. I honestly did not know this last two were not lost, I had no idea they would be in the possession of this... _witch_." He said with despise.

"I really must know by how much Borgin sold them to her, without a starting point I have no idea of how much to offer her for them." He looked down and took a deep breath, as if suddenly very tired. "She does not deserve to have." He muttered.

"So, who deserves to have them?" Asked Ginny, but he did not answer, still lost in his thoughts. "Tom?"

He looked at her and smiled, then he slid his fingers across the line of her jaw and then down her neck. "Better families." He said just before leaning in to kiss her. "Let's go home?"

Ginny nodded and stood up, feeling relieved to be out of there.

Tom made sure to say goodbye to Hephzibah although that he just wanted to walk away without telling her nothing. The old witch begged them not to go so early for a moment until another guest pulled her to the dance floor.

When they arrived at the Borgin & Burkes, Tom pulled Ginny to the store, asking her to help him find the objects on the store's records.

"Really? Can't we do that tomorrow?" She asked bored sitting at the counter watching him light a few candles around them with a spell. "The logbooks are not going anywhere."

"Let's just find the locket entry then, or I won't be able to sleep tonight." He pleaded, putting the two volumes belonging to 1926 over the counter and giving her the one regarding the first half of the year. "Burke's handwriting is worse than yours, but I'm sure, it won't take us long to find the entry." He said with a smirk, opening the logbook.

It was Tom who found the entry, sure, he would find it near the end of the year, close to the day he was born, and he had given her the other book on purpose. Tom read the entry several times, memorising the spells Burke had used to check the authenticity of the locket, tracing the name of Merope Gaunt with his thumb, noting the date it had sold.

He marked the page and looked at Ginny, who had closed her book and looked at him, waiting for him to finish.

Ginny was not sure what to do, should she say something? Give him a pat on the shoulder? What?

Tom smiled, it was the frankest smile she had seen him do, she could see that he was completely delighted with the night's events.

"I really appreciated your company and your help, Ginevra." Said Tom approaching her, tracing her leg up until it rested on her hip.

"Tom... what are you thinking?" Asked Ginny, maybe he would tell her his thoughts about Hepzibah, about the locket if he thought she was actually going to sell it or not.

"I'm trying to remember exactly how much I have saved in Gringotts and if it would allow me to buy her the locket."

"And?"

"I don't think I've enough." Tom laughed and hugged her, resting his head against hers.

"If you want you can have my share of the money we will receive to rent our first house." Ginny said sarcastically, cringing, putting his arms around him. "I'm leaving at the end of the week I really think you should have it... a kind of compensation for taking your attic for so long."

"I really don't need your pity, Ginevra." He said drily. "And you did not bother me." He said moving away to find her eyes. "I find it strange how comfortable we were all the time, it really seems like it was not the first time."

Ginny smiled and looked away, taking his eyes from his.

Tom licked his bottom lip, suddenly running out of the patient to deal with her mysteries.

"I have really enjoyed the last few days in particular..." He said, leaning over to kiss her neck, pulling on her hair until it fell around her shoulders.

"Yes, I've imagined you had." Ginny said sarcastically, moving her fringe from her eyes, pushing him back to step down the stool, but Tom did not move back as much as he should. "What is it?" She asked when he put a few strands of her hair behind her hear.

"Nothing." He smirked. "Let's go to bed, I'm tired."

Tom pulled her hand up the stairs, drawing her closer by the waist when they walked down the small hallway, stopping halfway to kiss her and pull her shirt out of her skirt so he could touch the skin of her back.

"Tom…" She called, pulling his hand. "Sleep…"

He smirked at her again and pulled her the rest of the way and up the stairs, then he pushed her against the door, breathing heavily against her hear. He was not going to start the new year feeling like he was being deprived of something that was rightfully his.

Tom grabbed her shirt when his hand trembled for a moment.

If he could not have the locket that night, then he would have her.

He kissed her like he had been holding his desires for months, opened his senses and reached for the call of her essence, that so much looked like a piece of himself calling to him. Tom knew she could feel it as well, he knew it consumed her and held her at that moment.

At first, Ginny did not realize what he was doing, to distracted by his mouth, by his hands, she barely noticed him pulling her skirt up, and found nothing strange on the way he lifted her off the ground and pulled her legs around him, pinning her against the door, like she was weightless.

It was only when she felt the cold of his belt buckle rest against the inside of her thigh she understood what he was doing, what was about to happen.

"Tom, n-" He kissed her to cut off her words, pushing her back harder against the wood and pulling her hips to his.

"My silly little Ginny..." He whispered against her lips, pulling on the last barrier between them, knowing what he wanted. "Just don't." Then he bit her neck, in the same place as before, and a jolt of the familiar energy passed through her at the moment his teeth broke her skin and he entered her.


	11. Chapter 11

Ginny followed the small moving animals in the embroidered canopy of her bed, in the last room on the third floor of the Leaky Cauldron, until she could no longer bear their games of hide and seek.

She took a deep breath, trying to control her nerves, and turned on her side, focusing on the bedroom door that she had blocked with a chair; a childish decision that would do nothing against a wizard determined to enter her room, but it was the best she could do to fulfil her need for an additional physical barrier between her and the outside. She had tried to move the wardrobe when she first closed the door, but it would not move no matter how many spells she cast on it, or how much she pushed on its side so that humble chair had to do the job.

The light of the day was beginning to enter her room through the dirty window as the sun rose, and she turned down, burying her face on the pillow, almost in agony.

Tom, in the Borgin & Burke, should take a few more hours to wake up and notice her absence; there was nothing keeping him awake that night, nothing remotely similar to her furious mind and the feelings of guilt and despair that she could not control.

She wondered what he was going to do once he understood she had left. Would he look for her? Make her go back to the Borgin & Burkes? Curse her?

Ginny turned to the other side, looking at the dark wooden wardrobe in the wall that so dramatically contrasted with the clear and yellowed wallpaper behind it.

The room felt so small.

She still felt dirty.

She had been in the water of her bath for as long as it had taken for it to go from boiling and almost burning her skin when she sat in the bathtub, too cold, and she had stayed there until her fingertips started to turn blue, and she was shaking and even more miserable. Ginny redressed feeling the same way she did before she entered the bathroom, she could still sense his smell on her and the taste of his mouth.

Ginny massaged her neck, this time, there was no potion to save her looks and it was going to leave a scar, but she deserved it, she deserved that bite and all the scratches he had left on her, the black bruises that were starting to appear, from where he had grabbed her too hard and the soreness between her legs from having him inside.

How she hated him in that moment, she had never felt so much anger for someone in her entire life.

Except for herself.

She had not been able to resist.

She could remember every moment of it, imprinted as much on her mind as it still was in her body. She had not tried to the push him away, she did not even stop to think about what was going on when he finally managed to free the attic door from his paranoiac locking spells that almost sent them to the ground when he opened the door behind her.

It was her that torn his vest open and ripped his shirt with the rush of reaching for his skin. It was her that pushed him to the bed and sat on him before he could even catch his breath from the sudden fall, making him moan and grab on to the covers before regaining control and press her against the mattress between their laughs.

How could she justify her actions? She couldn't even blame him. She had wanted him more than he had wanted her during those hours.

Later, when the realisation suddenly crushed her under its weight, she pushed his arms away, unable to handle the feel of his skin against hers and the sound of him sleeping beside her. She looked for the clothes she had brought from 1999 and dressed her as fast as she could, feeling her throat start to close and tears threatening to roll her eyes. Ginny left most of the money they had given her during those weeks on the dresser, since it made no sense to take it with her and took the damned pocket watch from the first drawer, and headed to the Leaky Cauldron.

Now she waited.

She had done it; she had crossed that line.

How could she face Harry when she went back home? She could see now, how much she loved him, how much she wanted to be with him. She missed him so much.

Why did she push him away?

How would she forgive herself?

She closed her hand tightly around the watch and slowly sit, her hair falling in front of her face, hiding the tears that started to fall from her eyes.

 _She would kill him._

* * *

Tom exited the bathroom pulling his sweater down his head, feeling rested and relaxed in a way that he did not felt in years, he runs a hand through his wet hair looking at the small chaos around his room, at the path of fallen things from his desk to his bed.

There were some books spread on the floor around his desk, he had stepped on most of the buttons that used to be in his clothes on his way to the shower, and their clothes lay around his bed.

He made a spell to tide the room and sat on the couch pulling his boots from underneath it.

Tom had taken a long time to realise that Ginny was not at his side when he had awakened. He had moved his arm around her side of the bed waiting for his hand to find her body, but it only found her pillow. Tom would prefer to have her there by his side when he woke up, he always preferred to have her there no matter the situation, but after what they did, he expected her to stay. It was the middle of the morning and she had probably been hungry and left for the kitchen, so he didn't though anything about it.

Still half-asleep, he pulled her pillow to him, breathing in the scent of her that was trapped on the fabric, then he got up to find the shower, shivering when the cold surrounded his naked form.

He started to tie his boots while trying to hear something from downstairs, like the sound of a pot beating on the stove, the kettle or even some awful Muggle music from the radio, but he heard nothing but a heavy silent.

It took him a moment to understand that that was the sound of the empty store when he lived alone.

He walked down the stairs and stopped by the kitchen door.

Empty.

He took a deep breath when a wave of anger started to spread through him.

 _Where was she?_

He knew, but he refused to accept it. _She would not dare…_

He entered the kitchen and looked around, trying to see if she had left him a note telling him where she was; he even opened the book he had left on the table and shook it pages down, but there was nothing inside.

'It cannot be.' He repeated to himself all the way back to the attic. He crossed the room to the bed and began to lift the books he had on his bedside table, leafing through them, he undid the bed over the vain hypothesis she had placed some note there, trying not to jump to the obvious conclusions. Only when he moved to the desk and saw the bag with money on top of it, he gave up.

The anger turned into fury while he walked around the room and with a sweeping gesture, he pushed everything that was on the desk to the floor, making books, leaves, feathers and ink bottles flew everywhere. He leant over the desktop, fists clenched on the wood and took a deep breath, completely focused on her, the nerve, the audacity of leaving him without notice.

Now he remembered how cold her side of the bed was, witness for how long she had actually been gone.

He did not even remember feeling her get off the bed. He, that had the lightest of sleeps.

Without realising it, Tom called on the primitive magic he had fed when he had bitten her, that had bonded their souls a little more together. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, and let that magic expand around him like an echo, a wave that would come back to him when it found her essence, always letting him know where she was.

"The Leaky Cauldron" He said through clenched teeth and flipped the desk to the floor before walking to the bed in a few quick steps. He searched through the folded clothes for his wand, letting her bloody shirt and skirt fall to the ground in the process, indifferent. Tom run down the stairs to the fireplace and slow down on the hallway, trying to regain his composure before he entered the pub. He grabbed a handful of Floo powder and let the pot smash into the floor, not noticing how it marked the leg of his black trousers in a pale green, he threw the Floo at the almost dead fire, making it burst alive in emerald flames.

Tom pushed the wand into his sleeve and crossed the pub to the stairs that accessed the rooms. Not noticing the unnatural pull that was telling him exactly where she was, only focused on getting to her, on fiddling her and make her know how displeased he was.

He grabbed the knob, ready to burst in, but then he stopped himself. Tom gave a step back, and then another one.

 _What exactly was he doing?_

Tom gave another step back, breathing harshly and shook his head. He had given in to his impulses, he had lost control… for her? He could barely recognise himself that moment.

She was not worth it.

He walked down the hallway, slowly, putting his wand away, just trying to understand what he was even doing there.

"Is everything all right, Tom?" Asked a voice beside him when he stopped in front of the fireplace, startling him.

"Professor Dumbledore!" Leaving the hand that was about to grab his wand fall to the side before putting it in his pocket. "Yes, everything is alright. Happy new year." He said with a friendly smile.

"Oh thank you." Dumbledore said. "I spent my night here, with my brother and some friends, something small and calm." He smiled, adjusting his half-moon glasses on his nose. "I'm now going home for a well-deserved morning of sleep."

"Ah yes, then I'm in your way, I'm sorry." Tom smiled and stepped aside to give space for Dumbledore to enter the fireplace.

"What happened with Miss Ginny?" He asked, without moving and making Tom look at him with fake confusion.

"She walked in at the middle of the night, asked for a room with a look of who was going into shock and then now you… You looked very distressed... Did something happen between you?"

Tom looked at him and adopted a neutral expression. "Nothing happened, sir."

Dumbledore tilted his head to the side, watching him carefully. "You did not hurt her now, did you?"

Tom, feeling as if he had ten years again and Dumbledore was asking what was on his wardrobe; he was being threatened. "I'm sorry?"

Dumbledore smiled and took some Floo powder from the pot. "Certainly, everything will end well. Women are the most complicated creatures on this planet; you will die of old age before you understand them."

Tom frowned and waited for Dumbledore to say something else because he certainly did not know what to say to that.

"I will see you another day." Dumbledore took his leave with a brief bow to which Tom replied and threw the Floo powder into the flames, disappearing into the flames.

When Tom dropped on one of the kitchen chairs with his face hidden behind his hands, he was still incredulous with Dumbledore's words, but more than that, he was worried by the fact that Dumbledore had a glimpse that things were not well between him and Ginny.

He had been careless, in his hazel to reach her he forgot to examine the space around him and look for potential threats. He had simply followed Ginny's track as if he was nothing more than a beast.

That was how out of himself he had been, and for what?

He leant against the chair crossing his legs and resting his hands on his lap, staring at the nothing.

Tom felt rejected for a moment, after the way they had spent the week, he did not anticipate that she could do this, she had given him exactly the opposite signs, but apparently there was not much he could do about it right now, whatever resentment she had for him, had woken again.

Rejection, imprisonment, _death_ , those were all the things he most hated.

He grimaced in disgust.

He told himself that it was not the fact that she had left, that actually bothered him, it was knowing that he would never know what she was hiding.

The store was well protected with a number of spells that which without them it could not care its business: protection spells, barriers, soundproof in certain parts of the building that included his attic. The rooms at the Cauldron were not like that, the old wooden walls, the rotting floors. The spells in place were there to prevent the guest of creating the perfect environment to do something illegal.

As he would probably do if he had entered the room.

He had the horrible feeling of being letting something important fly between his fingers, but there were things that had more priority and that actually deserved his attention, like what he should do about Hepzibah Smith and Slytherin's locket.

He had no proved that he was right about his theory, nothing that he could use to justify going after Ginny.

Maybe if she stayed on the Cauldron long enough for him to figure what to do with Hepzibah, he could have the patience of going back there and talk to her without losing his cool for this affront. He could convince her to be reasonable, return with him to the store, and stay. Then he could think about what to do with her.

Tom thought about the wasted time on her, on trying to be nice and lull her into liking him. He thought he had achieved it, the way she had talked…

Lies.

And he had not seen it, and how could he? Only she could see through him like he was made of nothing but damn glass.

Tom run a hand from his stomach to his chest, stopping above his hearth. The place where she always rested her hands. It felt weird.

He took a deep breath and stood up, it was probably hunger, he had not eaten well during the dinner at Hepzibah's house, with the old witch always pulling his arm when he was cutting his food. Tom made some tea and went down to the store with an apple on his mouth while pulling his sleeves up, he need to find the entry for Hufflepuff's cup and unlike the locket, he had no idea when Hepzibah could have bought it.

He sat on his stool at the store and finished the logbook where Burke had recorded the locket and, then he pulled the book that Ginny had been searching.

Tom sighed looking at the cover and then his eyes fell to her stool. He pushed it against the shelf behind him in annoyance.

He rubbed his face and shook his head, he needed to focus, and so he opened the logbook and started reading the entries from January 1926. But his attention was always going to the stool behind him, and the way she sat on it, and the things they had done against it, and the talks, and the silences.

He signed again, looking to the front of the store.

It really was silent now, only with the wind blowing against the windows and making the door tremble on its frame to keep him company.

'Good.' He thought. He had missed it.

The apple rested by his side, only a single bite taken from it. He was not hungry.

* * *

Ginny carefully opened her door, peering into the hallway.

Empty.

Feeling relieved for the fact that he had actually gone away.

Ginny had heard him coming and had waited for him with her wand on her hand in the middle of the room, ready to defend herself when he broke in. She really did not care what made him change his mind and go back; all that mattered was that he was back to his store.

She closed and locked the door, dragged the chair to its original place on the desk and sat down on it. She pulled Dumbledore's note closer to her and activated half of the mechanism, just because she could, feeling relieved at the clicking sound coming from it. Now she would only need a couple of seconds and she could go whenever she wanted.

And that would be when she was done with her new mission.

Ginny had decided to go ahead with her decision about killing Tom, deciding to take the risk, confident that there were greater things than she, like the Horcrux had hinted on Christmas Eve, so there was no reason to worry. She was almost certain that her parents would fall in love, even though there was no war to help them get closer, all her brothers and she would be born, they would probably have a very different life from what they had now.

Maybe her parents could have more money and a better house. She could never meet Harry and become a healer as her mother suggested so many times when she was little, which was not a bad option as well. It was something she could deal with, especially since she felt she no longer deserved to be with him after what happened that night.

It would be a better future, just because there would be no war and no Voldemort

Now she just had to find the courage to go back to the Borgin & Burkes and more than that, face Tom Riddle.

She absently rubbed her neck, feeling it hot and swollen against her palm.

If he had taken the trouble of looking for her and follow her there (she could not understand how he had done that), it was because he had been really pissed off. It certainly was not because she had broken his heart and he had come to beg for her to take him back. She could not even start to imagine what he could have done to her if he had opened the door.

But maybe Tom should have entered, she could have tried to settle things right there and now she could be home.

Ginny eventually remembered when he was going to see Hepzibah Smith again, but she couldn't find the courage to leave the room in the meantime, too nervous at the thought of even going down to eat, not wanting to run the risk of meeting someone she knew. Then the days she had to wait passed and she could not keep hiding from the world there, she had to act.

She also wanted to try to prevent Hepzibah's death, it was less a death on his hands.

Ginny hesitated in front of the fireplace, looking around, absorbing the sounds and smells of the only place which had remained the same through time, and that she could relate to the concept of home.

She was hoping to be back there soon, but not in 1946.

She firmly held wand until her knuckles turned white and took a deep breath counting to ten, then she threw the Floo powder into the flames with a dry movement.

This was it.

Borgin & Burkes' kitchen was empty to her relief; the last thing she wanted was to bump into Tom the time she exited the fire.

"Tom?" She called him, walking into the hallway, wand ready in front of her. "Tom!"

"He's not here!" Shouted Burke from the ground floor. Ginny walked down the stairs carefully, it could be Burke, or it could be Tom controlling Burke. It made no sense and she was being paranoid, there was no reason for him to do that, but paranoia was half the way to survive Voldemort, she had to be alert, keep her guard against anything that crossed her and most importantly, she could not hesitate when the time came.

"What's the matter?" Burke asked looking worried at Ginny when she emerged from the stairwell with her wand in wrist. "Where have you been?"

"Where is he?" Ginny ignored Burke's question, looking around, trying to see in the dark corners of the dimly lit store.

"He is having dinner with a client." Explained Burke starting to feel uncomfortable. "Is everything alright? Tom did something to you?"

"With which customer?" She needed him to say it aloud.

"Hepzibah Smith..." Burke took his own wand and pointed it at Ginny. "Now lower the wand and tell me exactly what's going on..." Burke stepped in Ginny's direction but she turned on her heels, knocked him out with a spell and run back to the kitchen.

She had no time to play with Burke.

Those were horrible news, she was late, the information she had was wrong and Hepzibah Smith was going to die that night if she was not already dead.

Ginny spill half of the Floo powder around her trying to grab a handful of it and held her wand to her chest before entering the flames screaming her destination.

She exited the fire to a room she had not been at during the party, there were no lighted candles on it and the darkness seemed to want to involve her. She walked to the window, looking at the garden below, but heavy clouds covered the moon and the stars, but even if she was able to see clearly, she did not recognise that part of the garden.

She bit her lip, trying to ward off the anxiety that was beginning to wrap her throat like a ghostly hand. The same feeling she had when she saw Tom hold Slytherin's locket was returning, she should not be there, she should not interfere and should not see what was happening somewhere in that house.

Screams coming from above called her attention to the ceiling and made her sprint into the hallway, almost crashing with an oriental vase opposite the door when she did a thigh curve into the direction of what she hoped was the stairs.

She ran as fast as she could and was relieved to find the house's entry hall. She run up the stairs, feeling her legs getting heavy because of the lack of her regular Quidditch training.

When she entered the hallway that led to the Hepzibah drawing room, she had to cover her eyes with one arm because a white bright light flooded the area that moment, leaving through the drawing room door. Hepzibah's house elf Hokey was huddled in the doorway, shielding her old face with her tray.

Ginny shook her head, trying to clear her eyes from the bright spots left by the strong light; she had missed it.

Hepzibah was dead and Tom had a new Horcrux.

She slowly walked closer but stopped when the old house-elf rose from the floor with a scream and ran into the drawing room holding the tray above her head like a weapon.

She heard the dry sound of wood hitting a body and the correspondent surprised growl from Tom, but she could not move, she did not want to go in, she did not want to see Hepzibah lifeless body on the floor, and she did not want to see him under those circumstances.

Ginny shook her head, exhaling trough her mouth.

He was just Tom Riddle, not yet Voldemort.

The house elf's furious screams became panicked cries.

"Look at what you have done to your master, elf!" Tom's voice filled everything around him, strong, controlled and clear. "Look at it elf! Look! You've killed your master!" Ginny did not recognise that voice, or the cruel cold laughs that made her soul tremble. "Say it elf! Say it! SAY THAT YOU HAVE KILLED HER!" He shouted.

Shaking, she closed the distance to the drawing-room door, supporting one hand on the wall beside her, as if she was afraid to fall.

"HOKEY DID NOT DO IT! HOKEY IS A GOOD ELF! YOU DID THIS! I WILL TELL! I WILL!" Screamed and shrieked the house-elf, but Ginny could barely hear her words under the sound of Tom's laughs and then Hokey stopped screaming and Ginny feared that she too had died, despite knowing what was going to happen.

She walked to the door by the time Tom was releasing the elf from the floor. Hokey looked at Hepzibah as if it was the first time she saw her, her lips trembling, deformed hands outstretched towards the body of her master.

Tom was sitting on the floor and leaning against a side table trying to pull himself up, breathing hard, and not looking at the house-elf when she passed by his side in Hepzibah's direction. "There was no one else here tonight, only Hokey, Hokey poisoned her, Hokey put poison in her drink and killed her, Hokey is a bad elf." Tom gave a strangled laugh, finally managing to stand on his knees.

"What have you done Hokey?" He asked, looking at the house-elf over his shoulder.

"I put poison in Master's cocoa and I killed her." She said falling on her knees. "I am a bad elf..." Ginny screamed as the elf began to hit her head on the floor, she ran toward her to try to stop her, to tell her that she was not guilty and that she had to stop. She raised the elf in the air, but Hokey kicked until Ginny dropped her, and continued to hurt herself.

"You..." Ginny turned around and stepped back, looking shocked at Tom.

She barely recognised him, not because his appearance had changed, but because he... was not himself.

His presence was completely different, he had a dark horrible aura surrounding him, she could feel black magic dripping from him and there were those horrible red eyes...

It was Lord Voldemort who looked back at her.

Ginny covered her mouth with her hands and walked back until her legs touched the couch behind her. She could not believe her eyes. Harry's story did not make justice to this moment, this was one of the most horrible things she had ever seen.

Tom knocked down the side table he was still holding on to when he rose, and walked toward her with a maniac look on his face and completely out of himself and insane. When he took a staggering step, the golden reflex of the chain around his neck called her attention.

Slytherin's locket was open against his chest and Tom Riddle's eyes, those cold blue eyes that she had to get used to seeing every day, were staring back at her, and she could not look away.

Those eyes knew who she was, she just knew it, that Horcrux was just like the diary, he recognised her, she could see the thirst on them, they called something deep in her.

Ginny began to shake; she raised her wand, but her arm was stuck between her and Tom when he put his arms around her, a delicate gesture that did not fit him in that state.

"You should not have seen this my little Ginny..." He muttered against her ear with a tired sigh. Ginny could feel him burning against her, hear how hard he was trying to breath. He was sick. Ginny felt a chill raise up her back as she felt the medallion pressed against her chest when he lost his balance for an instant. "What am I going to do with you?" She felt his cheek twitch into a smile against hers.

Before she could push him away, Tom appareted. Ginny was not ready to travel like that when the spell closes around her, and she thought she was going to get out of air when her feet touched the snow in front of the Borgin & Burkes. Tom immediately pushed her against the window, resting a hand at the side of her head and clenching on her sweater, to keep his balance, catching his breath.

Ginny clung tightly to him, her arms passing under his arms and holding on tight to his shoulders when her legs began to fail her, pulling him down with her.

They fell, her knee between his legs and his between hers. She pulled him even tightly and stared at the store across the street, barely registering the dark shadow that moved inside, closer to the window.

Tom rested his head on her shoulder, trying to catch his breath, his hands resting above her head.

He laughs, softly, against her neck, making her shiver.

He freed himself from her and stood up, giving a step back before regaining his balance, then he grabbed her by the arms and pushed her until her back was against the window and dragged her until she rested on the store's door.

"What am I going to do with you?" He asked again. "My dear silly little Ginny, what will I do with you?" He laughed, leaning down to talk in her ear, but not lowering his voice. "Maybe I should cut your tongue off so you can't tell anyone about what you saw, what do you think?" He rested his forehead against hers. "No, not that... then how will you be able to tell me about your secrets?" He lowered his head to the curve of her neck where his mark was, almost touching it. "Do you still know my name?"

"You're mad..." She told him harshly, straightening up against the door and making him rise. She put the tip of her wand under his chin, making him smirk at her. "This ends here, I will not allow y-" Tom opened the store's door behind her, and she fell back, hitting the floor unprepared. Her head hit the dry wood boards making her feel dizzy.

She could hear him laugh, she shook her head a few time to make her head stop spinning and opened her eyes. Tom had slipped to the floor leaning against the doorjamb, a cruel smile on his lips, amused; raising a hand to his chest he closed the locket, imprisoning those blue eyes inside of it for the first time. "What ends here Ginevra? What are you going to do?" Tom mocked her. "What can you do against Lord Voldemort?" He laugh is a way he should not be able to and began to stand up; looking at her with a smirk and then leaving his face fall into emptiness. "Who sent you here?" He asked raising his voice, as he entered the store and closed the door with a kick.

"What's going on!?" Burke shouted walking off the stairs with his wand in his hand, paralysing mid-step when he saw Ginny lying on the floor and Tom standing atop of her, leaning towards her threatening and a strange reflection on his eyes.

"You should go to the warehouse Burke, count the potions." Tom said with a hoarse voice and a cruel smile. The other wizard blinked a few times before disappearing into the warehouse as Tom suggested.

Ginny looked horrified to Tom, she had underestimated him. He could have made her talk whenever he wanted!

Or… his red eyes focused on her, was he not aware that he had already achieved this level of power?

Her heart skipped a bit. She did not know him at all…

"Who sent you?" He asked again, wand in hand and a look of loathing. "Tell me who sent you to kill Lord Voldemort!"

Ginny began to crawl back.

"Calm down Tom! You've to calm down! Please!" She shouted back.

Tom caught on with her and lifted her up by one arm. " .you?" He articulated slowly, centimetres from her face, and ignored her plead. Ginny glared at him with hate, challenging him when the grip around her arm tightened.

"You're completely mad..." She stated in a whisper pointing her wand at his chest.

Tom growled and yanked the wand from her wand, and then dragged her to the attic, furious, pulling her tougher when she stumbled, pushing her hard against the walls to tell her something he would not say, shaking his head and walking again.

When they reached the attic, Tom threw her to the ground and started tossing the books he had on his desk to the floor. Unable to find what he turned to his bookshelf, letting his books fall to the floor on top of Ginny's shoes.

"Where did you put it?" Tom shouted looking furious at Ginny. "Where did you hid my diary?" Tom walked back to his desk letting their wands to the ground when he started to undress, taking the tie that suffocated him off and throwing it to the floor, then pulling his coat that seemed to weight on his shoulders in an unbearable way.

Seizing the opportunity, Ginny took her wand and began to crawl back, passing through the curtains and just stopping when her back was against his bed. She swallowed when she heard him flip the desk and closed her eyes when he started to pull his other books to the ground. She did not saw him pass through the curtains, ripping half of them out of their support because she closed her eyes.

"It knows! It knows who you are!" He shouted grabbing her arm throwing her on the bed, then sitting on top of her, pushing her down with his weight. "It hides my secrets, but it will tell me, it will tell because Lord Voldemort is its Maker." Tom grabbed her shoulders digging his fingers into her muscles. "TELL ME THE TRUTH GINEVRA!" He yelled.

"You're hurting me! Let me go, Tom!" Ginny tried to push him but to no avail, she scowled, noticing how his hair was stuck to his face with sweat and the large drops of water that were dripping down his neck.

"I'm hurting you?" Tom laughed cruelly. "You don't know what pain is..." He became very serious again and he wrapped his hands around Ginny's throat, strangling her with all the strength that his feverish body allowed him to use.

Ginny squirmed under him, the body pleading for the air he was keeping from her.

She was about to lose consciousness when he released her, falling against her, breathing hard.

When Ginny was able to breathe again she tried to push him to the side clutching her wand tightly on her hand with strength, she hoped he was unconscious by the way he felt like a dead body against her. However, Tom was not and with a tug he pulled her wand from her hand and with the effort he sat back again, swallowing with difficulty, he gave a deep breath, filling his lungs with air that seemed to not be enough for him to live.

He pulled his sleeves up, he had work to do.

Creating the first Horcrux had been easy; he had barely felt it when the first piece of his soul passed to his diary. With the ring, he already felt some of the side effects of the magic, falling sick in the middle of the move of the orphanage to the countryside during the war with Germany.

He did not expect that breaking his soul for the third time would be any easier than the previous time, but he did not expect this. He felt burning on the inside and it destroyed his self-control. He hated it, it caused him a great distress the weeks after. He still couldn't remember how he had found his way back to the orphanage after that night with those worthless Muggles because of this.

The same had not happened in Albania; in those months he looked for that damn Ravenclaw's diadem at the middle of nowhere. He had been careful, learned his lesson, having a place to go back to recover, the potions to numb the pain and bring his sanity back waiting by the bed.

But he was not the same since then, there was a crippling madness always in the back of his mind, ever present no matter if he was 16 and helping taking care of the Muggle children that last summer he passed with them in the orphanage, or watching Ginny make her dinner.

It was his future, that madness.

If he could, he would fear that the next cuts on his soul would make him completely mad and question if it was worthy, but he could not, because, in that state, he loved that madness, he embraced it.

If he could, he would decide it did not matter, he wanted seven Horcruxes, it was the only way he would live forever and he was almost half way through, he would stop at nothing.

But now he didn't think about such silly things, he was too far-gone for now, too busy.

Tom smiled, more of a grim then a smile, and focused on the woman beneath him.

"Ginevra…" He said aloud, caressing her face with one hand and pushing her shoulder down with the other. She should not have been there; she should have not seen him like this. Now she had to pay, she had to silence her. No one could know.

"Get away from me!" She screamed and took her elbow to his face and tried to sit, but Tom quickly regained his balance and sat on her legs again, putting a hand on her face and pushing her down with a wave of adrenaline that left him a little closer of unconsciousness.

She screamed, almost hopeless, and grinded her teeth. She was not going to be taken down this easily.

" _Crucius_ …" Tom said placing the tip of the wand against Ginny's chest, the red light of the curse flashing between them for an instant. Tom tried to keep his concentration to maintain the curse, but it was getting hard to focus, he was weak. Tom clutched the blankets around her head when Ginny grabbed on to him, screaming and in terrible pain, ripping his vest; he tried to focus on her contorted face with pain, drink her screams because they were fair, she was paying.

"This," he said when he stopped the curse, looking at her with disdain. "Is to teach you that you should not run and hide after we fuck, Ginevra... You are mine, you cannot leave me..." He put a hand around her throat and pushed her wand against her cheek, pressing it down. "And from now on, it will be to convince you to tell me who the hell you are." Ginny screamed again, but Tom did not let go of her neck, pushing her hard against the bed, ignoring the scratches she left on his arm, taking pleasure at seeing her struggle under him, enjoying her screams with a coy smile on his lips, despite preferring to hear her moan to this, preferring what they had done the last time they been in that bed, to this.

He tortured her, over and over again, until he dropped on her, almost unconscious, no longer able to focus on the curse and what he was doing, letting the spell stop.

Ginny gasped against him, clinging to him, warping her arms around his back, grasping his hair just because she need to make sure that he was actually there, against her and that she was no longer being stabbed by the ghostly knives that characterised that curse.

She hid her face on the crook of his neck, feeling the unpleasant feeling of the wet shirt on her skin.

He moved and she pulled him even closer, desperate, waiting for him to pull back and torture her again, but he didn't move, he groaned against her ear.

She pushed Tom to the side, but he barely reacted, groaning in pain when she pressed her hand against his chest or pulled his thigh to free her legs.

It was her opportunity.

There he was, defenceless and at her mercy, lips parted trying to breathe, pain in his face.

It was time.

She rested her hand over his heart, pushing the locket against the wet shirt that covered his chest, catching her breath. It was time.

Tom looked at her under heavy eyelids, his eyes red, that blood red that did not fit him and she would never grow used to see on this body, so distant from his cadaveric body at the battle of Hogwarts.

She stood up from the bed, almost falling back. "Avad-" She thought about Fred. "Avada-" She thought about her father that almost died with a bite from his snake. "A-" She thought about her friends and Lupin and Tonks that had left a baby behind.

Tom grabbed the cover under him, clenching his teeth and arched his back, pressing his head against the bed in pain, then he relaxed again, breathing hard, relieved for a moment.

Ginny turned her back to him, running a hand through her mouth. What was she going to do? She could not do this. All the time she wasted closed in that room at the pub, collecting herself, planning, were completely for nothing, because she could not kill him.

"Lord Voldemort." She said aloud, feeling the tears stroll down her face, she sobbed inconsolably. "Tom…"

What had he done to her? She was broken! She was not able to kill the man that killed her brother.

She was not able to do it because it was wrong to kill, or because she was going to do it out of vengeance or because she was going to do it as a coward, taking his life when he was laying there at her mercy, not able to defend himself.

She could not do it because she simply _could not_ and did not know why.

Any illusions of love she had nurtured for him had died in that bed a couple of nights ago, so what was stopping her?

Ginny screamed in despair and sat back on the bed, holding her wand until it almost broke and hid her face on his chest, ignoring the cold touch of the locket against her face.

A bad decision after a bad decision and she could not redeem herself.

She rose and caressed his face, making him sigh under her touch, almost relieved. Tom raised a hand to touch her but was not able to lift it above her leg, so he let it rest there, closing his fingers over the fabric.

Ginny stood up and stepped back, she lifted her wand again, but still, could not find the courage to do it, so she bent over him, letting her thigh rest against his side and her hands beside him, one by his head.

She gazed at him with despise, when he opened his eyes, still red under the influence of the spell he made to create the Horcrux, she felt disgusted. By him, by her, by everything that happened and did not happen in that store and on that bed.

Ginny leant down and kissed him, slowly and calmly, a goodbye kiss that would close him out of her life forever. She saw him close his eyes again, felt his hand under her sweater, touching the skin of her waist.

She would never miss the diary again and she would close the months she lived in 1946 in a dark place of her mind and never go there again.

She could not kill him, but he was completely dead to her now.

He was dead in her time as well, so what was the point in taking him with her?

She sat back and watched him fall asleep.

It was over.

Ginny shook her head and walked out, feeling empty and numb.

She walked down the stairs and took out the watch from her pocket, activating the mechanism, just as Dumbledore had told her to do.

She waved to Burke that was still in the warehouse and was giving her a silly smile and had his hands full of bottles.

Ginny stopped by the door, and looked back at the dark store behind her for a moment, then she opened the door in a fluid movement and stepped out.

When she crossed the door to the street, she was pushed back inside, as if a giant hand wrapped itself around her chest and pressed her downwardly.

Ginny fell back, hitting the floor of the Borgin & Burkes hard, hitting her head again on the wooden boards for the second time that day.

"Weasley..." said a rough, deep voice before her. Ginny opened her eyes breathing hard and focused on the man looking down at her.

Kevedo looked at her with contempt, one hand inside his coat, ready.

Ginny crawled back, feeling a small déjà vu and dropped the watch.

She was back.

"What do you think you are doing?" Kevedo asked running his eyes up and down her body.

Kevedo, she remembered what they told her about it in the briefing of that mission.

He had disappeared soon after the Battle of Hogwarts and little was known about him in the recent years. The Aurors were interested in questioning him due to intelligence that put him on the most exclusive centre of the Death Eaters, the closest one to Voldemort, and there were several wizards on the Ministry interested in knowing what he was doing there because there was nothing more to say about Kevedo but that. There was no record of him having killed or tortured, of having robbed, manipulated, or done something illegal in general. They only knew that he was an important Death Eater and that was all, there was nothing that they could use to arrest him in Azkaban, especially nowadays, after the Ministry had abolished the penalty of imprisonment for criminal association, after having committed some crass errors made by insensitive and tired judges after weeks and weeks of incessant trials back in the 1940's.

Kevedo stepped closer to her and she stood up, shaking, feeling her head about to explode. She lifted her hands and started to walk towards the exit.

"I'm really sorry." She said, moving slowly, focused on his hand inside his jacket.

Kevedo would not tolerate any of this, he felt enraged. He had been living in London for the past weeks, hiding from the Aurors and their nonsense, waiting for the last object he needed to fulfil his master's plan. He had everything ready, he was so close that it almost scared him. The plan that Voldemort had to entrust him in case he died, so meticulously done and perfect, was about to enter the final phase, he would not let this silly girl stop him.

Kevedo walked to her and hold her by the sweater. Ginny took her knee to his stomach but missed when he pushed her back, nonetheless, it had been enough to make him release her. She stepped back, stumbling on her feet and fell down.

The moment she touched the cobbles of the floor she appareted, but it had not been fast enough to stop her from feeling something pass right by her head with a horrible speed that left her ear sizzling.

She sighed, feeling the rough grass outside of The Burrow on the palm of her hands and the back of her neck through her hair.

She stared at the blue sky above her and sighed.

Blue.

Just like his eyes.

She hated that colour.

* * *

 **The Watch**

The End

* * *

 **A/N:** Thank you very much for reading this. It's main main story and I will never write anything better then it!

I would really appreciate if you left me a review with your thoughts, it makes me feel loved and keep writing, I always send an happy thank you back. :)


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